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Introduction to Balloons

The word ‘Balloons’ conjures up ideas in your mind of simple balloons you blow up for kid’s parties, or balloons that fly off on their own, or the special balloons for big 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 want.
When you think about it, a balloon is a very strange 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 pop. The very early balloons would have been made with non-stretch material but modern dayballoons have great elasticity because they are made of Latex and can be pumped up to create much larger sizes than earlier ones. Balloons come in many different sizes and colours and can brighten up any event and create a festive atmosphere.

History of Balloons

The first known balloons were very primitive in that they were made out of the bowels of animals. 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 without doubt the earliest use of balloon modelling.

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 probably likely to be made from an animal bladder that stretched when filled with air. The modern rubber balloon was invented in 1824 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 experiments with Hydrogen, but the more common Latex balloon did not appear until eighteen forty seven. 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 appear until a hundred years later in nineteen thirty one.

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 circumstance.

Some balloons are purely for decoration, others are ideal for specialist uses 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.

What are all the types of Balloons Available?

Good Old Party Balloons

The most familiar 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 volunteers 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 cluster of balloons 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 usually made of natural Latex tapped from rubber trees. The rubber’s elasticity makes the dimensions variable. Balloons filled with air will hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.

Get something unique made by specifying printed balloons fantastic for a significant party or event.

Balloons made of Foil

The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are much more expensive than Latex balloons and are made of thin non-stretch metalized plastic film or Mylar. The first time I had ever seen them was when they were used at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and they caused quite a stir. These balloons have a nice high gloss reflective surfaces and can be printed with colour pictures, logos and designs to customise them. The most important attribute of metalized nylon for balloons is its propensity to prevent the Helium gas from escaping for several weeks because it is less permeable. Foil balloons also have the advantage of being light weight, longer-lasting with greater buoyancy. They are ideal for extraordinary celebrations, in-store displays, parties and for gifts. At our granny’s ninetieth birthday celebration a few months ago my son brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the party atmosphere.

Animal-Shaped Balloons

Balloons shaped like animals are ade from metalized nylon which can easily be cut into pieces so that when glued 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 exclusive pieces make a very bright decorative show for that special event. Balloons in animal shapes may be used as gifts or as a talking point at your special event.

Rocket Balloons

Inflating a balloon and letting it go before tying it is as game most kids play at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes usually has most people falling about laughing as it zooms around the place. This game is teaching the children basically how a rocket works and they are called balloon rockets. As a youngster I can remember being fascinated as I learned how they worked.

When the top of the balloon is let-go, the balloon contracts so that the greater pressure of air inside is forced out causing the balloon to be propelled forward. This is in essence how a rocket works. The balloon can also be filled with different gases other than air, providing the same effect. Balloon rockets are a widely used a learning aid to reveal the principles in science of the operation of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also regularly used to demonstrate Newton’s third law in physics. Kids can have hours of fun playing with balloons as a balloon rocket. The randomness of where they will go adds much laughter to the game.

Water Balloons

The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for children to fling at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other wet through. They are normally not as big as regular balloons and made from thiner rubber so that they can be easily broken. Water balloons are often used in competitions or games.

Helium Filled Balloons

The reason Helium balloons float in to the sky is because they are filled with Helium gas which is lighter than air. So for an event where balloons are set off into the atmosphere, they will all be Helium filled balloons. If the Helium balloons are rubber balloons they normally 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 flight time 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.Balloon releases of thousands of Helium balloons launched at the same time make a memorable sight.

Balloon Sculpting
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 works of art are usually made and designed by professional balloon modellers as it is a very skilled job. Balloon sculptures are really quite restricted because of the shape of the balloons but with intelligent colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive design at your special event. The balloons need to be precision filled and to do this professional balloon party decorators 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 grand dinner parties which may have three or five balloons with an arrangement of flowers. The decoration will generally include curled ribbon with an added weight to keep the balloons on the table.

Balloon Art and Modelling

Balloon modelling is a fantastic entertainment for children and adults alike and should be confused with balloon sculptures discussed above. The Latex used for balloon modelling is made of extra-stretchy rubber so that it can be twisted and shaped and tied without bursting when making the balloon model. A Balloon modelling artist pulls and twists the inflated modelling balloons into shapes of 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

I am sure you will have been to a party or dance where at the end of the event a load of balloons fall from the roof to create excitement and fun amongst the audience. 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 making a festive atmosphere at the party climax, so everyone goes away feeling they have had a really good time. By printing messages or logos on the balloons they can also be an advertising tool at the event.

It is easy enough to setup your own balloon drop for your special event providing you have a room with high enough ceilings. 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 assistants to lend a hand with blowing up balloons as it can take quite a while to do the number needed. Then load the inflated balloons into the container and make sure the opening is central so that the balloons will fall onto the target area below when they are let go. You will also need to develop a mechanism for releasing the balloons, and make sure you have thoroughly tested it so everything goes to plan at the big moment.
To make an impact at a promotional launch advertising balloons compliment other branding activities really well.

Releasing Balloons on Mass

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 conduct which can be found on their website at www.nabas.co.uk

If you are preparing a balloon race involving 5,000 balloons, it is an obligation 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 informed of balloon releases involving less than 5,000. An application form can be requested by calling either the NABAS office on 01989 762 204 or the Airspace Utilisation Section of the CAA on 020 7453 6599

Balloons, the Environment and Balloon Safety

Latex is a natural product obtained from rubber trees that are grown in certain regions of the tropics, so balloons are completely organic being made of natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not cut down to extract the NRL. The NRL is released by tapping older trees and is an crucial sustainable crop providing jobs for many agricultural labourers 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 might easily become yet another object 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 fun and play 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.

When you think about it balloons are a major part of modern day life, did you realise?

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