The World of Balloons

Introduction to Balloons

The word ‘Balloons’ conjures up images in your mind of simple balloons you inflate for kid’s parties, or balloons that fly off on their own, or the special balloons for key events like the ones produced for the wedding of Charles and Diana? There are so many different types of balloons on the market that you can get almost anything for any event you need. Balloons are a bright, bouncy item that can be used for many different purposes, including kid’s or adult parties, product launches for advertising or promotional events.

When you think about it, a balloon is quite an odd item. It is something that expands when filled with air or some other type of gas, such as Helium or hydrogen and is very fragile so that it can easily burst. The very first balloons would have been made with non-flexible material but modern balloons have great elasticity because they are made of Latex and can be filled up to create much larger sizes than earlier ones.

Balloons Throughout History

The first known balloons were very simple in that they were made out of the bowels of cats. The Aztec Indians in Central and Southern America carefully cleaned out the cat gut, turned it inside out and stitched it with special vegetable thread that stuck to itself when dried in the sun creating an almost airtight seal. The balloons were shaped into model animals and then filled with air to be burnt on the top of the Aztec pyramid as an offering to the sun god. This is the first recorded history of balloon modelling. Early balloons were made of animal guts and were turned into play things for the local community.

The first public showing of a balloon was at the Portuguese Court in Lisbon in 1809 by a Portuguese priest, Bartolomeu de Gusmao, and was most likely to be made from an animal bladder that stretched when filled with air. The modern rubber balloon was invented in eighteen twenty four by Michael Faraday the renowned English chemist and physicist who invented, amongst other many other things, the Faraday cage and he also made huge contributions to the fields electromagnetism and electrochemistry. The balloons Faraday used were filled with hydrogen for his science experiments with Hydrogen, but the more familiar Latex balloon did not appear until 1847. Although the Latex balloon was manufactured in London in the mid eighteen hundreds and early rubber balloons were sold in America in parks and circuses for a penny each; the mass production of them did not happen until 100 years later in 1931.

The world of balloons became more advanced as they developed in line with technology. Now balloons are made from rubber Latex, polychloroprene or nylon and may be inflated with air, Helium, hydrogen or water. Inflating the balloon with air can be done with the mouth, a manual hand pump, electric inflator, foot pump or with compressed gas. Balloons are used for many differing purposes, and decorated in numerous ways to fit the event. Balloons are usually used for entertainment or displays.

Some balloons are purely for decoration, others are ideal for specific purposes because of their low density and relatively low cost. The balloon’s properties have led to them being used in a wide range of other applications in the areas of meteorology, military defence, medical treatment, and transportation. There are many different types of balloons which can be categorised under different headings.

Different Types of Balloons

Good Old Party Balloons

The most popular types of balloons are the ones we are used to seeing at parties, particularly a child’s party. These are often bought in small packets and blown up by mouth or with a pump to create a festive scene for children’s parties and other kinds of celebratory events. These days you often see a balloon cluster at the entrance to a house or hall to indicate where the party is being held, it has almost become a universal indicator of a party in progress! The balloons come in many different sizes and colours and can have printing on the face which expands as the balloon is blown up. Party balloons are mostly made of natural Latex tapped from rubber trees. The rubber’s elasticity makes the volume variable. Balloons filled with air always hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.

There is a great range of colours for balloons and many different sizes due to the flexibility of the material from which they are made. You can use cartoon characters on printed balloons that become larger than life once inflated.

Foil Balloons

The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are generally more costly than Latex balloons and are made of thin non-stretch metalized plastic film or Mylar. The first time I remember them being used a major event was when they made an appearance at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and they caused quite a stir. Mylar balloons have a nice high gloss reflective texture and can be supplied with colour pictures, logos and patterns to customise them. The most useful property of metalized nylon for balloons is its ability to prevent the Helium gas from escaping for several weeks because it is less permeable. Foil balloons also have the benefit of being light weight, longer-lasting with greater buoyancy. They are best for extraordinary celebrations, in-store decorations, parties and for gifts. At our granny’s ninetieth birthday party a few weeks ago I brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the festive occasion.

Balloons in Animal Shapes

Balloons in animal shapes are ade from metalized nylon which can easily be cut into pieces so that when pressed together they make the three dimensional shapes of animals. Screen printing the appropriate design on the model, makes the chosen animal come realistically alive. Once inflated, these unique balloons make a very bright decorative impact for that special event. Balloons in animal shapes may be used as gifts or as a talking point at your special event. Balloons in animal shapes can make a great birthday gift for a child as an extra pleasure.

Rockets from Balloons

Inflating a balloon and releasing it go before tying it is as game most kids play at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes generally has everyone falling about laughing as it zooms all over the room. This game is teaching the children basically how a rocket works and they are called balloon rockets. As a kid I can remember being fascinated as I learned why it did that.

When the top of the balloon is let-go, the elasticity of the balloon contracts so that the higher pressure of air inside is forced out causing the balloon to be propelled forward. This is basically how a rocket works. The balloon can also be inflated with different gases other than air, with similar results. Balloon rockets are a widely used a learning aid to show the principles in laws of nature of the functioning of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also regularly used to demonstrate Newton’s third law in physics. Children can have hours of fun playing with balloons as a balloon rocket. The unpredictability of where they will go adds fun to the fun.

Balloons Filled With Water

The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for children to chuck at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other drenched. They are generally smaller than normal sized balloons and made from weaker rubber so that they can be easily broken. Water balloons are often used in competitions or games.

Balloons Filled with Helium Gas

The reason Helium balloons float is because they are filled with Helium gas which is lighter than air. So for an event where balloons are set off into the sky, they will all be Helium filled balloons. If the Helium balloons are rubber balloons they usually only retain their buoyancy for a few days. This is because the Latex has tiny holes that are bigger than the enclosed Helium atoms so the Helium gradually leaks out. To increase the life span of a Helium balloon the inside of the balloons can be coated with a special polymer solution which reduces the leakage of the Helium for a week or more. Having even just one foil Helium filled balloon at a small party can create a special effect to enhance the occasion.If you require a large amount of balloons then buy wholesale balloons to acquire the amount required.

Balloon Sculptures
Balloon Sculptures are made from hundreds of balloons to create a solid structure such as a balloon arch, wall or statute. Other shapes are more difficult, but on occasion more ambitious sculptures have been created so they are possible. These sculptures are usually made and designed by professional party decorators as it is a very skilled job. Balloon sculptures are really quite limited because of the shape of the balloons but with intelligent colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive feature at your party. The balloons need to be precision filled with exactly the same amount of gas and to do this professional balloon sculptors use electronic equipment to deliver the exact amount of Helium into the balloon. For non-floating balloons air inflators are used. Professional quality balloons differ from most retail packet balloons as they are bigger in size, stronger and made from one hundred percent biodegradable Latex. Sometimes Helium balloons are used as table decorations for special events which may have three or 5 balloons with an arrangement of flowers. The decoration will generally include curled ribbon with an added weight to stop the balloons from floating away.

Balloon Modelling and Balloons in Art

Balloon modelling is a popular entertainment for children and adults alike and is not to be confused with balloon sculptures discussed above. The Latex used for balloon modelling is made of extra-stretchy rubber so that it can be manipulated and tied without popping when making the balloon model. A Balloon modelling artist pulls and twists the inflated modelling balloons into shapes resembling animals, people or hats. When I have watched these artists at work I am always anxious that the balloons will burst when they are twisting and tying their handy work. These tiny tubular balloons are extremely tricky to inflate and often need a pump to get them started, until you have developed the lungs for it.

Dropping Lots of Balloons from a Net

Most people have seen a party or dance where at the end of the night hundreds of balloons are dropped from the roof to create excitement and fun amongst the party guests. This is known as a balloon drop and is often performed at parties such as New Year’s Eve celebrations or at political rallies and conventions. It is a relatively low budget way of creating a festive atmosphere at the party climax, so everyone goes home feeling they have had a really great evening.

It is possible to setup your own balloon drop for that special event providing you have a room with enough height. To begin with you will need to set up a large plastic bag or net overhead, which is suspended at the required height. Get your other organisers to lend a hand with inflating balloons as it can take quite a while to do the number needed. Then pile the inflated balloons into the net and make sure the opening works so that the balloons will fall onto the target area below when they are let go. You will also need to devise a mechanism for releasing the balloons.
Balloons used in balloons arches a stronger Latex balloon is used, instead of regular balloons.

Mass Balloon Releases

Because of concerns about the impact on the environment of a large amount of balloons being released, the NABAS – The Balloon Association have produced a code of practise that is available on their website at www.nabas.co.uk

If you are preparing a balloon release of more than 5,000 balloons, it is a pre-requisite that you apply in writing for permission to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at least 28 days in advance. The CAA also like to be notified about balloon releases involving less than 5,000. An application form can be obtained by calling either the NABAS office on 01989 762 204 or the Airspace Utilisation Section of the CAA on 020 7453 6599

Environmental Concerns and Balloon Safety

Latex is an organic product obtained from rubber trees that are grown in certain regions of the tropics, so balloons are actually organic being manufactured from natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not harvested to produce the NRL. The NRL is harvested by tapping mature plants and is an indespensible sustainable crop providing employment for many agricultural workers in some of the poorest regions of the world. Latex is a sustainable crop that is good for the environment and the economy of the country in which the rubber trees are grown.

The planting and maintenance of rubber tree plantations contributes towards the prevention of tropical rainforest deforestation. Without the cultivation and the consumption of Latex products the plantations may very well become just another casualty of the clearance of land for arable use. One of the great advantages of NRL cultivation is the significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere that is produced by industrialised nations and is a major source of global warming.

Printed Latex balloons are an absolutely fantastic, low-cost and environmentally friendly way of advertising your promotion or event.

Conclusion

The toy balloon has been a source of pleasure and excitement for many years at celebratory events such as parties, product launches and conferences throughout the world. They have been an educational tool as well as providing hours of entertainment and interest for children and adults alike. Non toy balloons are used for experiments in science, as an aid for heart repair in medicine and even as a form of travel as in the hydrogen air ship idea. Balloons are invaluable in helping us to learn about our world and some of the properties of physics.