Modified Tapioca Starch

[Ittlelisa]

Hi,
I’m new to making body and bath supplies and located in Australia. We have no Natrasorb bath tapioca starch available in our country at the moment . Can i use any ‘modified tapioca‘ starch other than natrasorb and if it is much the same.
thanks for your help.

 

[lsg]

From what I have seen on Camden Grey natrasorb is modified tapioca starch.

https://www.camdengrey.com/essentia...9tEL5bd6hgAoajguFIdA1suhzX-Rvc8MaAmKeEALw_wcB

 

[gardengeek]

I'll let you know when I got home from work. I just got 4mular Ultratex 3 Tapioca Starch from Amazon to compare with Natrasorb. I don't think they're interchangeable though. Natrasorb dissolves in water and the other gels up.

 

[gardengeek]

Ok I did a quick comparison. Ultra-Tex 3 (UT-3) is a modified tapioca starch, it's on the left in the pic. UT-3 is whiter in appearance, Natrasorb is cream color. When I rubbed a little between my fingers, UT-3 felt a little grainier, Natrasorb was very smooth.

They both absorb FO the same, although UT-3 still remained kind of fluffy whereas Natrasorb becomes denser.

The main difference was when I added water, UT-3 turned into a gelatinous blob and Natrasorb dissolved pretty quickly.

After FO but before water:

After water:
UT-3

Natrasorb

 

[Ittlelisa]

Yes definitely a difference between modifield tapioca starch. thank you for sharing

Ok I did a quick comparison. Ultra-Tex 3 (UT-3) is a modified tapioca starch, it's on the left in the pic. UT-3 is whiter in appearance, Natrasorb is cream color. When I rubbed a little between my fingers, UT-3 felt a little grainier, Natrasorb was very smooth.

They both absorb FO the same, although UT-3 still remained kind of fluffy whereas Natrasorb becomes denser.

The main difference was when I added water, UT-3 turned into a gelatinous blob and Natrasorb dissolved pretty quickly.

After FO but before water:
View attachment 66072

After water:
UT-3
View attachment 66073

Natrasorb
View attachment 66074

Thank you for sharing. Quite a difference between these modified tapioca starches. Natrasorb is possibly the superior choice.

 

[persephonesgarden]

In my own experience, modified tapioca starch can get the job done depending on your application, but Natrasorb is worth the upcharge. It's fluffier/less dense, absorbs liquids like a dream, and doesn't have the weird, sharp smell to it that modified tapioca starch seems to have. (I've tried Expandex and WSP's starch in looking for a Natrasorb alternative.)

 

[Dooleykins]

I'm curious in which scenarios Natrasorb is worth it, versus which uses you can get away with modified Tapioca Starch?

The main reason for my curiosity is that I'm cheap, and I already have a 5lb bag of tapioca starch from my bulk organic supplier. I'm happy to order some Natrasorb for where I truly need it, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

So far I've been using my modified tapioca starch in my foaming bath salts and milk bath without negative results or feedback.

 

[persephonesgarden]

I use Natrasorb/tapioca starch in my bath recipes too -- think bath salts, bath bombs, etc. I think due to its absorbency it's easier to mix into my dry mix, the product needs less drying time afterwards and is less prone to clumping, and since (to my nose) it smells much nicer and milder I don't have to question if the smell of the modified tapioca starch will impact the smell of the final product. (Sometimes I feel like it might, other times I can't tell.) I also think it gives a slightly fluffier quality to the finished product since the density is different. All in all, I think the difference is really in the making experience for me.

SO if you're happy with tapioca starch and it works well for your purposes, I would definitely keep using it! I think I'm just stuck in my ways now