Latex Balloons - Party Balloons

All the Latex Balloons are suitable for Air and Helium

A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag that can be filled with a gas, such as helium, hudrogen or air. Modern balloonsare made from materials such as latex, rubber, polychlorprene or a nylon fabric. Some balloons are purely decorative, whilst others are used for specific such as meteorology, medical treatment, military defense or transportation. The properties of a balloon inluding its low density and low cost have led to a wide range of applications.

Balloons were first invented by a Portuguese priest Bartomoleu de Gusmao, who at that time was 45 years old, and was first shown to the public on 8th August 1790 in the hall of Casa da India in Lisbon. The rubber balloon was then invented in 1824, it was inflated with hydrogen and used in the experiments by Michael Faraday with that element. The rubber decorative toy balloons were soon after sold for a penny a piece in parks and circuses in America. The latex balloons of today were first made in London in 1847, then mass production of these did not occur until the 1930s. According to the Readers Digest, children and adults release approximately 1 billion balloons each year in celebration. Balloons are a large party of birthday, wedding and party celebrations.

Party Balloons : A floating decoration balloon is a floating flexible bag which when filled with helium gas floats. Balloons today are made from rubber, latex or nylon fabric. Party balloons are mostly manufactured from natural latex, which is tapped from rubber trees and these can be filled with heliu, air, water or other suitable liquids. The rubbers elasticity makes the volume adjustable. Filling the balloon with air can be done by mouth or a balloon pump which are available in manual and electric types. Filling the balloons with helium, which can be rented in cylinders from Air Products plc, who have agents in most parts of the UK and other companies, makes them float. An average float time for an 11 inch balloon correctly filled and tied is approx 16 hours, although you can add high float which tends to increase the floating time by coating the inside of the balloon to reduce leakage. When balloons are filled with helium, the helium atoms slowly escape through small pores in the latex which are larger than the helium atoms. Balloons filled with air normally hold both side and shape longer but unfortunately do not float. However, even a perfect rubber balloon loses gas to the outside in the end.

Foil Balloons In the late 70s foil balloons started to appear. These were more expensive but stayed afloat a lot longer, they were made of thin unstrethcable metalised plastic film. Foil balloons have an attractive shiny and reflective appearance and are often printed with pictures or patterns on for gifts and parties. The good thing about the foil balloon is that its lightweight and metalised nylon manufacture increases buoyancy and helps to keep the helium from escaping as fast as it does with a latex balloon. The floating time of a foil balloon can be up to 1 or 2 weeks. Another factor is that normally with a foil balloon you can top them up with helium once or twice as they usually have a self seal valve. A professional balloon decorator will use specialised electronic equipment to enable the exact amount of helium to be put into the balloon pro rata to its size. For the most successful results a professional decorator will use professional quality balloons from companies like Anagram or Qualatex which differ from most retail balloons that are sold in packets of small quantities by being larger in size and made from 100% biodegradeable latex, thereby giving results that are better in shape, design and will float longer.

Filling Balloons. All toy and party balloons have an opening through which gases or air are blown in, balloons are usually filled by using your breath, a pump or a pressurised helium cylinder. When filled the opening is normally tied off by hand. Foil balloons usually have a self sealing valve. By filling a balloon with helium you make the balloon float, helium is the best gas to use for balloons because it is inert and will not catch fire. It is however extremely dangerous if you inhale it deliberately and can cause serious health problems.

Guide to Floating Times:

AVERAGE FLOATING TIME FOR HELIUM FILLED BALLOONS

10 inch latex - 7 to 8 hours or 12 to 14 hours if hi-float is added

11 inch latex - 11 to 14 hours or 40 to 48 hours if hi-float is added

14 inch latex - 25 to 30 hours or 75 to 85 hours if hi-float is added

16 inch latex - 30 to 44 hours or 6 days if hi-float is added

18 inch foil - 3 to 7 days

These are all approximate times - floating time depends on the quality of the balloons, if they have been inflated correctly and tied correctly.

What is Helium: Helium is a chemical element which occurs in a great abundance around the universe, although not as much is found on earth, it takes the form of gas and is extremely stable. It does not readily form compounds with other elements and is considered to be a very useful and valuable element.

Modelling Balloons: Professional balloon artists are entertainers who tie and twist tubular model balloons into shapes and sculptures. Balloons that are used for ballon sculptures are usually made of extra stretchy rubber so that they can be tied and twisted without bursting. A balloon pump is usually used to inflate modelling balloons although a professional balloon artist will usually use an electric pump as the tiny tubular balloons are initally extremely hard to inflate. Professional decorators can use 100s of balloons to creat a sculpture. Normally the round shape of the balloon can restrict these to walls and arches, but many more ambitious sculptures have been made, these are usually in scenes with animals, people and even equipment.

Balloon Drops: An effective and decorative way of using balloons is the balloon drop. For a balloon drop a net is filled with air inflated balloons, which is then suspended from a high ceiling, preferably at least 12 feet, the higher the ceiling, the more effective the drop. Once released the balloons gradually cascade to the floor below. Balloon drops are often used in New Year Celebrations, Weddings, Dances, Proms, Theatres and Company functions. If you intend to release more than 400 balloons it can be a good idea to use a professional balloon decorator. You can always find a list of these in the yellow pages. Balloons are also used at major events, for these the balloons can be printed with a logo, designs or advertising text, an example of this is the arches at the London Marathon.

Water Balloons: These are made from thin small rubber balloons. They are filled with water not helium or air and easily break. Normally these are used by children at parties, competitions or games. The idea being that they throw them at each other trying to get each other wet.

Rocket Balloons: These are usually released at parties or celebrations. They work because the air that you have blown into them makes the balloon contract and when the end of the balloon is left open, the air within the balloon shoots out and the balloon is propelled forward, usually with a screeching noise.

Hot Air Balloons: These are very large balloons fixed onto the top of a basket and then hor air or buoyant gas, often hydrogen is heated with a flame, unlike air ships, the balloons travel is dictated by the wind.

Safety and the Environment: There have been concerns over the release of foil balloons as they are not biodegradeable as latex balloons are, and a helium foil balloon released into the atmosphere can travel a long way before deflating, this type of balloon can also conduct electricity on its surface and can become entangled in power lines and cause power outages. Only 100% latex biodegradeable balloons should be released.

INTERESTING BALLOON FACTS

Laurence C Moss born on the 25th of September 1970, is a balloon artist who works mainly with latex balloons. Well known for his challenging balloon sculptures his achievments include a successful Guiness World Record attempt with fellow artisr Roy Sorell for the largest non round balloon sculpture and Balloon Manor, a large scale haunted house made entirely from nalloons. To learn more about Larry Moss go onto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Moss where you will find a lot of interesting facts.