I would think whipped butter would need to be refrigerated. I buy Land of Lakes or Kerry Gold stick butter. I leave a stick out in an antique butter bowl on the kitchen table. Both butters get soft but I've never had it melt and during the spring and fall I routinely have the windows open and it can get to 78 degrees in my kitchen. Since it's just me and hubby the stick of butter is used up anywhere from 4 to 9 days. I have never had it "go bad", get rancid, grow mold or make us sick. I also leave the eggs I get from our chickens in a bowl on the counter. That said I am very careful about food and spoilage since hubby and I both had food poisoning in our early 30's.