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Introduction to Balloons

The word ‘Balloons’ conjures up pictures in your mind of simple balloons you inflate for children’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 available that you can get almost anything for any event you want. 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 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 burst. 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 initial 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 demonstration of a balloon was at the Portuguese Court in Lisbon in seventeen hundred and nine 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 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 1800’s 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 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 filled with air, Helium, hydrogen or water. Filling 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 various differing purposes, and decorated in numerous ways to fit the event. Balloons are usually used for entertainment or displays.

Some balloons are purely for decorative reasons, others are ideal for individual purposes because of their low density and are relatively cheap to procure. 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.

Different Types of Balloons

Balloons for Parties

The most familiar types of balloons are the ones we are used to seeing at parties, particularly a child’s party. These are usually bought in small packets and blown up by Mum’s and Dad’s 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 varying sizes and colours and can have printing on them 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 volume variable. Balloons filled with air usually hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.This is because Helium particles are so small they can escape between the Latex molecules, apparently!

A company that provides Helium balloons will most of the time be able to deliver balloon gas to enable you to inflate the balloons on the day.

Mylar(Foil) Balloons

The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are much more costly 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. Foil balloons have attractive shiny reflective surfaces and can be supplied with colour images, branding and patterns to customise them. The most crucial characteristic of metalized nylon for balloons is its propensity to retain the Helium gas from leaking for several weeks because it is less porus. Foil balloons also have the benefit of being light weight, longer-lasting with increased buoyancy. They are ideal for unusual celebrations, in-store displays, parties and for gifts. At my Mum’s ninetieth birthday party last year one of the members of the family brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the party atmosphere.Mylar balloons or foil balloons can also be created into star shapes and can be printed with patterns to advertise an event.

Balloons Shaped as Animals

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

Rocket Balloons

Blowing up a balloon and letting it go without tying it is as game most youngsters play at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes always has all but the really stone faced falling about laughing as it shoots about the room. 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 why it did that.

When the top of the balloon is released, 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 effectively how a rocket works. The balloon can also be inflated with different gases other than air, providing the same effect. Balloon rockets are a widely used a teaching device to demonstrate the principles in laws of nature of the functioning of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also frequently used to demonstrate Newton’s third law in physics.

Water Balloons

The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for kids to fling at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other soaked. They are often smaller than normal balloons and made from weaker rubber so that they can be easily broken.

Balloons Filled with Helium Gas

The reason Helium balloons float up 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 generally only retain their buoyancy for a few days. This is because the Latex has pores that are larger than the enclosed Helium atoms so the Helium gradually seeps 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.Quite a few companies supply wholesale balloons use a search engine to find the supplier nearest to you.

Sculpting with Balloons
Balloon Sculptures are made from hundreds of balloons to create a solid structure such as a balloon arch, wall or statute. Other shapes are a bit more challenging, but on occasion more ambitious sculptures have been created so they are possible. These sculptures are usually made and designed by professional balloon modellers as it is a very skilled job. Balloon sculptures are really quite limited because of the round shape of the balloons but with intelligent colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive feature at your gathering. 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 weddings 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 is not to be confused with balloon sculptures discussed previously. The Latex employed by balloon modellers 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 tubular balloons into shapes of animals, people or hats. When you watch a balloon modeller at work you half expect that the balloons will pop when they are twisting and tying their creations. These tiny tubular balloons are extremely difficult to inflate and usually need a pump to get them started, until you have developed the lungs for it.

Mass Balloon Drops

I am sure you will have been to a party or dance where at the end of the night hundreds of balloons fall from the ceiling to create excitement and fun amongst the audience. This is a balloon drop and is often performed at events such as New Year’s Eve celebrations or at political rallies and conventions. It is a relatively low cost way of creating a festive atmosphere at the party climax, so everyone goes away feeling they have had a really great evening.

It is possible to create your own balloon drop for your special event providing you have a room with high enough ceilings. Firstly you will need to set up a large plastic bag or net overhead, which is suspended at the required height, to hold the balloons. Get your assistants to lend a hand with blowing up balloons as it can take quite a while to do the number needed. Then insert the inflated balloons into the net and make sure the opening works so that the balloons will drop onto the target area below when they are released. You will also need to create a mechanism for releasing the balloons. Balloon drops Can also be employed for many other celebrations, including graduations and weddings.
For that extra special event such as a wedding, making use of the art of balloon printing gives that extra something special on the day.

Mass Balloon Releases

Because of concerns about the bearing on the environment of a large number 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 release of more than 5,000 balloons, it is a necessity 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 races of 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

Balloons, the Environment and Balloon Safety

Latex is an organic product from rubber trees that are grown in certain regions of the tropics, so balloons are actually environmentally friendly being made of natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not felled to extract the NRL. The NRL is obtained by tapping mature plants and is an vital sustainable crop providing work for many agricultural workers in some of the poorest regions of the world. Latex is a sustainable harvest that is not harmful to the environment and the economy of the country in which the rubber trees are grown.

The planting and maintenance of rubber tree plantations helps 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 farming. One of the great benefits of NRL cultivation is the noticeable contribution to the removal 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 happiness 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 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.

A world without balloons would be a much poorer place and balloons will remain an active part of the world’s makeup for many years to come.

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