How to Deal with Melted or Grainy Raw Materials and Finished Products

What to Do When Your Butter Comes in Mushy or Melted How to handle natural butters in warm-weather shipping — without wasting a single ounce!

Plant-based butters, such as cocoa butter, require extra care in warmer weather to maintain their creamy consistency.

As Florida (and much of the country) heats up, warm-weather shipping becomes a challenge — especially when it comes to natural plant butters like shea, mango, sal (shorea), and cocoa. Whether you're ordering finished whipped products or raw butters for your own DIY projects, it's not uncommon for your package to arrive with butters looking… well, less than solid.

First of all: Don’t panic.

Melted butters are still perfectly usable! They haven’t gone bad — they’ve simply changed form. Most natural butters have relatively low melting points (often around 85–100°F), which means they easily soften or liquefy in transit, especially when left in a hot mailbox or delivery truck.

Why Do Some Butters Get Grainy?

Graininess in natural butters happens when the different fatty acids cool at different rates and begin to solidify separately. One of the main culprits is stearic acid, a long-chain saturated fat naturally found in many plant butters. When a butter melts and then cools too quickly or unevenly, the stearic acid can clump into tiny solids instead of staying evenly mixed — creating that gritty or bumpy texture.

Butters with a higher stearic acid content, such as shea butter, kokum butter, mafura butter, and sal butter, are more prone to this issue. It doesn't mean the butter is bad or unusable — just that the fatty acids have separated slightly during the cooling process.

This is purely a textural issue and doesn’t affect the moisturizing benefits or shelf life. If you want to avoid graininess, the best approach is to remelt the butter gently and allow it to cool slowly and evenly, ideally in stages at room temperature.

What You Shouldn’t Do

Embrace the summer with nourishing plant-based butters—perfect for keeping your skin hydrated and glowing all season long.

Don’t throw your materials away! You can pop them straight into the fridge or freezer to firm them up — just know that rapid cooling can sometimes cause grainy or gritty textures, especially with shea and cocoa butter. This happens because the fats solidify unevenly and can crystallize. However, if you're working with raw materials that you plan to remelt and incorporate into a finished product later, this quick-cool method is a totally fine way to stabilize them temporarily.

What You Should Do

1. Allow it to settle at room temperature — ideally between 68–75°F. Letting it solidify slowly will help maintain a smooth texture.

2. If it’s fully melted, stir gently with a clean utensil to redistribute any settled components before it begins to harden.

3. Store in a cool, dark place — like a pantry or cabinet, away from sunlight or heat sources.

Planning to Whip the Butter?

If you plan to whip the butter for body butters, lotion bars, or similar products, it’s best to remelt it fully using a double boiler, then allow it to cool gradually in stages. This helps prevent graininess and gives you better control over the final texture and consistency.

What About Finished Products?

Natural finished products can also be affected by heat — but most can be salvaged with simple steps:

• Sugar scrubs might separate in transit. While they’re still warm, give them a quick stir to redistribute the emulsifiers. If larger waxy grains remain after stirring, that’s okay — it’s just the emulsifier. The scrub is still perfectly usable and effective.

• Whipped shea and body butters may deflate or become grainy in temps above 90°F.

• Beard and tattoo balms can also develop grit if exposed to heat. Starting April 1st, we ship these items in insulated wrap to help keep them cool, but carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx don't monitor package temperatures. If your product arrives soft, grainy, or deflated — it’s not ruined. It will still work beautifully with a little extra effort to massage into the skin.

• Pro Tip: To restore grainy beard or tattoo balms, place the open tin in a 175°F oven. After it has fully melted, leave it in the oven for about 15 minutes before removing it. This helps all the fatty acids and waxes stay evenly blended as the balm begins to stabilize. Then allow it to cool at room temperature on the counter. This slow, even cooling process helps prevent new grains or solid bits from forming, giving you a smooth, easy-to-use balm again.

• Plan ahead: To avoid melt-related texture changes, the best time to order heat-sensitive products is before the end of March or after October 1.

  
  

And don’t forget — sometimes graininess develops after delivery, like when you carry products in a purse, pocket, or leave them in a hot car. Just let them return to room temp before use. They’ll still do their job.

A Note About Texture

Natural butters are fickle by nature. Their texture can shift with temperature and humidity — but these changes don't impact their skin benefits. The quality is still there!

Final Thoughts

At Green Iguana Bath, we ship with care, but nature has a mind of its own. If your butter or finished product arrives soft, melted, or a little less pretty than expected, rest assured: it's still usable, safe, and luxurious. Just give it a little patience — and maybe a stir or two.