Will melted shaving creams solidify again?

[rase]

I bought several 150 gram tubs of Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving creams and had them shipped to me, as usual. I just opened them, and they are melted to varying degrees. All of them are much softer than they should be. One of them, the Lavender, is essentially liquid. A little of the Lavender leaked out, but not much. Nevertheless, the volume of all three tubs seems diminshed too. Perhaps that's just from the loss of embedded air. If so, that shouldn't affect the weight, but I can't check that easily.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me, but I am fairly sure I've never ordered in the summer time before. I live in Texas, and the temperature right now is 99 degrees. There's no telling how hot the box of creams may have gotten in the UPS truck before they were delivered to me.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? Will the creams harden again now that they are inside in cooler temps? Would putting them in the fridge help? Will they still work properly even if they don't harden again? I doubt there's any way to put the air back in them to fluff them up and restore them to their normal consistency. I'm wondering if I should just return them.

[rase]

Update: They have firmed up quite a bit already since being in the house for an hour, but they are still a bit soft, and the consistency is off. They have a consistency more like vaseline than shaving cream. I bet they'll work though. I'll try one in the morning.

[rearviewmirror]

if you stir them up really well and then put the lid back on and let it sit for a day or two, it should go back to its original consistency.

[Ryan82]

The most important thing is to see how it lathers, regardless of consistency. I've never seen a cream liquify before, but then again it very rarely reaches 99 degrees here in Edmonton (or 37 celsius for us Canadians)!

On the other end of the spectrum, I once bought a cream that was obviously old stock as it was as hard as a soap. I thought about returning it, but interestingly enough when treated like a soap it performs very much like a cream, and is a superb product. You never know until you try.

[Wintchase]

I am no expert. But I have microwaved soap so that it would fit in my old spice mug and had no real I'll effects....sand ditto on the stirring.

[northpaw]

Had strange consistencies from shipped TOBS cream on two occasions. I never did anything but let them sit. The first time, the cream ended up perfectly flat and a little on the hard/dry side, sort of like Proraso "soap". The second time, it ended up extra gooey. Both have continued to lather just fine since, though.

[rase]

I put them in the fridge for an hour last night, then took them out and let them come to room temp. The Lavender, which is the one that was melted almost to a pure liquid, regained its volume but took on a slight hardness and shinyness. That is the one I shaved with this morning. It lathered and lubricated quite normally and smelled as wonderful as always. Aside from the firmer consistency of the cream in the tub, I can't tell any difference from previous tubs of this same cream that I've used for several years now.

I haven't tried the Sandalwood or the Eaton College yet. Neither regained a volume quite as full as the Lavender, and both are on the firm side. The Sandalwood has a shiney surface like the Lavendar. THe Eaton College has a flatter, slightly grainy appearance. They all smell good. I suspect they'll be fine.

[rearviewmirror]

yea they should all be fine. the water in them evaporated a bit, and trying to reconstitute them probably isnt worth the effort. just treat them as soft soaps.

[tfrod]

Yeah they should be fine. I had the same thing happen to a couple tubs I purchased a while ago. Like others have said give them a good stir and let them sit in a cool place. TOBS make some excellent creams by the way, great choice!