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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 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 lots of different purposes, including children’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 stretches 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-elastic material but modern dayballoons have great elasticity because they are made of Latex and can be filled up to create much larger sizes than earlier ones.

Balloon History

The earliest known balloons were very primitive 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 sewed 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 was probably the first example 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 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 everyday 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 appear until a hundred years later in 1931.

The balloon industry 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 various differing purposes, and decorated in numerous ways to fit the circumstance.

Some balloons are purely for decoration, others are ideal for individual functions 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.

What are all the types of Balloons Available?

Balloons for Parties

The most familiar types of balloons are the ones we are used to seeing at parties, generally a child’s party. These are usually 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 them which expands as the balloon is inflated. Party balloons are generally made of natural Latex tapped from rubber trees. The rubber’s elasticity makes the size variable. Balloons filled with air usually hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.

Children especially have hours of fun heading balloons after the party, keep-it-up being one of my favourite ways to entertain my children with a balloon.

Balloons made of Foil

The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are generally more high priced 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 Spencer and they caused quite a stir. Mylar balloons have beautiful glossy reflective texture and can be finished with colour images, logos and styles to customise them. The most useful attribute of metalized nylon for balloons is its propensity to keep 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 unusual celebrations, in-store decorations, parties and for gifts. At my mother’s 90′th birthday party a few weeks ago we brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the festive occasion.Mylar balloons or foil balloons can also be created into animal shapes and can be printed with branding to advertise a brand.

Animal-Shaped Balloons

Balloons in animal shapes 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 pretty 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. Balloons shaped like animals can make a great birthday gift for a child as an extra indulgence.

Balloon Rockets

Blowing up a balloon and releasing it go without tying it is as game most kids play at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes always has everyone falling about laughing as it speeds about the place. This demonstration is an experiment in how a rocket works and they are called balloon rockets. As a youngster I can remember being intrigued as I learned why it did that.

When the mouth of the balloon is released, the balloon contracts so that the higher 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, resulting inthe same effect. Balloon rockets are a widely used a learning aid to demonstrate the principles in physics of the operation of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also frequently used to demonstrate Newton’s third law in physics.

Balloons and Water

The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for children to throw at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other wet. They are normally not as big as normal balloons and made from thiner rubber so that they can be easily broken.

Helium Filled Balloons

The reason Helium balloons float upwards 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 generally 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 escapes. 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. Balloon races require Helium balloons. If air filled balloons were used they would never get off the ground.

Sculptures from 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 more difficult, but on occasion more ambitious sculptures have been constructed so they are possible. These works of art are usually made and designed by professional party decorators as it is a skilled job. Balloon sculptures are really quite constrained 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 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. Industrial 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 3 or five 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 Art and Modelling

Balloon modelling is a fantastic entertainment for children and adults alike and should 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 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 you watch a balloon modeller at work you half expect that the balloons will burst when they are twisting and tying their handy work. These tiny modelling balloons are extremely hard to inflate and often need a pump to get them started.

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 lots of balloons are dropped from the ceiling to create excitement and fun amongst the audience. This is called 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 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 possible to create your own balloon drop for that special event providing you have a room with enough height. Firstly 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 help with inflating balloons as it can take a long time to do the number needed. Then load 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 create a mechanism for releasing the balloons, and make sure you have thoroughly tested it so everything goes to plan at the big moment. Balloon drops may also be used for many other celebrations, such as graduations and weddings.
That special event can be made more vivid by setting up balloons arches in particular when used to create a grand entrance.

Mass Balloon Releases

Due to concerns about the effect on the environment of a large amount of balloons being released, the NABAS – The Balloon Association have produced a code of practise which can be found on their website at www.nabas.co.uk

If you are preparing a balloon race of more than 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 notified about balloon races 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

Balloon Safety and The Environment

Latex is an organic product obtained from rubber trees that are grown in certain regions of the tropics, so balloons are completely environmentally friendly being manufactured from natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not cleared to produce the NRL. The NRL is released by tapping older plants and is an crucial sustainable crop providing work for many agricultural workers in some of the poorest areas of the world.

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 may very well become yet another victim of the clearance of land for farming. One of the great advantages of NRL cultivation is the appreciable contribution to the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere that is produced by industrialised nations and is a major source of global warming. The tropical regions in which rubber trees grow are often in some of the poorest parts of the world, so an industry from such a sustainable source is a vital income for the region.

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 resource 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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