How to Properly Store Your Cannabis Products

You put thought into choosing the right cannabis product. Where you keep it once you get home deserves a little thought, too.

Cannabis products can be affected by light, heat, air, and moisture over time. Depending on the product, improper storage can change its texture, flavor, consistency, or overall quality. The good news is that proper storage usually isn’t complicated.

For most products, the same basic rule applies:

Keep it cool. Keep it dark. Keep it dry. Keep it closed.

From Highly Rooted gummies and chocolates to tinctures, body butters, salves, and coconut oil, here’s what to know about keeping your products in good condition after you bring them home.

Why Storage Matters

Just like more products, cannabis products aren’t immune to their environment. Extended exposure to light, heat, oxygen, and moisture can contribute to changes in cannabinoids and other components of cannabis products over time. Research examining stored cannabis has found that both light exposure and temperature can influence cannabinoid degradation, which is one reason a sunny windowsill or hot car is generally a poor storage location.

Proper storage also matters for the product itself. Chocolate can melt. Gummies can become sticky or harden. Oils and tinctures can be affected by excessive heat and light. Whipped products can lose their texture.

And, perhaps most importantly, cannabis products should always be stored securely and out of reach of children and pets.

The Four Basics of Cannabis Storage

1. Keep Cannabis Away From Direct Light

A kitchen counter might be convenient, but a spot that receives direct sunlight isn't ideal.

Light exposure can contribute to the degradation over time, so a cabinet, drawer, pantry, or other dark storage area is usually a better choice. This is especially important for products you'll have around for more than a few days.

2. Avoid Excessive Heat

Cannabis products generally prefer the same kinds of conditions you would choose for many foods, oils, and personal-care products: a reasonably cool, stable environment.

That means avoiding places like:

• A hot vehicle

• A sunny windowsill

• Next to the stove or oven

• Directly above a radiator or heater

• Other areas that regularly experience large temperature swings

Heat can also create some very practical problems. Gummies can soften or harden if left out, chocolate can melt, coconut oil can liquefy, and whipped products can lose the texture they had when you purchased them.

3. Keep Containers Closed

When you're finished using your product, close the container securely.

Keeping products properly sealed helps limit unnecessary exposure to air, moisture, odors, dust, and other contaminants.

For tinctures, replace the cap securely. For gummies and confections, reseal the package. For jars of salve or body butter, replace the lid instead of leaving the product exposed between uses.

4. Keep Products in Their Original Packaging

We recommend keeping cannabis products in their original packaging whenever possible.

The packaging identifies what the product is and provides important information about cannabinoids, serving sizes, ingredients, and other product details. Original cannabis packaging also makes it much less likely that someone will mistake an infused product for an ordinary snack or household item.

That distinction is especially important with products like gummies, chocolates, toffee, cookies, and peanut butter cups.

How to Store Highly Rooted Edibles

Gummies

Products like our Good Mornin' Sunshine Rosin Gummies, Snoozeberry Rosin Gummies, Fresh Pineapple THC & CBD Rosin Gummies, Sweet Cherry THC & CBG Rosin Gummies, Strawberry Feels Gummies, Sour Gummies, Rescue Paws Rosin Gummies, Sunrise Banana Sativa Rosin Gummies, and Strawberry Watermelon Dream Nano Gummies should be kept securely sealed in a cool, dry area away from direct sunlight.

Heat is one of the biggest practical problems for gummies. Leave them somewhere excessively warm, and you may open the package to find gummies that are much softer or stickier than when you bought them.

Humidity isn't helpful either.

A cabinet or pantry away from appliances and direct sunlight is generally much better than a bathroom, windowsill, vehicle, or warm kitchen counter.

And because cannabis gummies can look very similar to non-infused candy, keeping them in their clearly labeled original packaging and securely away from children and pets is particularly important.

Chocolates, Toffee, Cookies, and Other Confections

Chocolate and cannabis both appreciate a little climate control.

Highly Rooted products such as Milk Chocolate, Mint Dark Chocolates, Snoozemints RSO Chocolates, English Toffee, Medical English Toffee, Medical Peanut Butter Cups, and our Medical Molasses Cookies should be protected from excessive heat.

Chocolate can soften or melt when temperatures climb, and repeated heating and cooling can affect its appearance and texture.

A cool, dry cabinet is usually appropriate unless the package directs otherwise.

If your home gets particularly warm, follow the storage directions provided with your specific product rather than automatically placing every edible in the refrigerator. Refrigeration can sometimes introduce moisture or condensation when products repeatedly move between cold and room-temperature environments.

How to Store Tinctures

Highly Rooted tinctures including Good Mornin' Sunshine Tincture, Nano Watermelon Tincture, Snoozeberry RSO Tincture, Snoozemint RSO Tincture, Straw-beary n Cream CBD Tincture, and Minter Wonderland CBD Tinctureare best protected from excessive light and heat.

Keep the bottle:

• Tightly closed

• Upright

• Away from direct sunlight

• Away from excessive heat

• In its original labeled bottle

A bathroom medicine cabinet might seem like an obvious choice, but bathrooms can experience frequent changes in heat and humidity. A bedroom cabinet, drawer, or another cool, dry storage space may be a better option. Also remember to keep the dropper and bottle opening clean. Avoid touching the dropper directly to your mouth, food, or other surfaces before returning it to the bottle.

What About Topicals?

Highly Rooted Simply Coconut Oil is made with just food-grade coconut oil and cannabis. That simple ingredient list also means the physical consistency of the product can naturally change with temperature. Coconut oil becomes softer or liquid when warm and firmer when cool. Seeing that change doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong with the product — it may simply be responding to the temperature of the room.

Keep the container securely closed. Avoid leaving it somewhere excessively hot or in direct sunlight.

And because Simply Coconut Oil is food-grade, be particularly careful not to store it in a way that could cause someone to confuse it with ordinary cooking coconut oil.

Highly Rooted's THC & CBD Whipped Body Butter is hand-whipped to create its light, creamy texture. Excessive heat can soften or alter that consistency, so this is definitely not a product we'd recommend leaving in your car on a hot summer afternoon.

The same basic principle applies to Bee Soothe Tattoo Balm and our CBD salves, including High Seas CBD Jar Salve, High Seas CBD Salve Stick, and Whale's Breath Menthol CBD Salve Stick.

For these products:

• Replace the lid or cap after each use.

• Keep them away from prolonged heat and direct sunlight.

• Store them somewhere clean and dry.

• Use clean hands when applying products from an open jar.

• Keep cannabis-containing products securely away from children and pets.

Salve sticks are particularly convenient because the product stays contained inside the applicator, but they should still be protected from high temperatures that could soften the oils and butters inside.

Should You Refrigerate Cannabis Products?

Not everything needs to go in the refrigerator. In fact, refrigeration shouldn't automatically be your default cannabis-storage method. Refrigerating a product that doesn't require it can sometimes introduce other issues, including condensation and texture changes.

Instead, check the product's label and storage instructions first.

Keep Cannabis Secure

Good cannabis storage isn't only about maintaining product quality. It's also about making sure cannabis doesn't end up in the wrong hands.

Always store THC products somewhere children and pets cannot access them. Keep them clearly labeled and separate from everyday candy, snacks, supplements, lotions, and cooking ingredients. This matters especially with products that look or taste familiar, including gummies, chocolates, cookies, toffee, and other infused foods. Original packaging makes it much easier to immediately identify what the product contains.