Introduction to Balloons
The word ‘Balloons’ conjures up images 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 pop. The very first balloons would have been made with non-elastic 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.
History of Balloons
The initial 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 is without doubt the earliest use of balloon modelling. Early balloons were made of animal guts and were turned into play things for the local youngsters.
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 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 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 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 occur 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 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 suit the occasion. Balloons are usually used for entertainment or displays.
Some balloons are purely for decorative reasons, 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. There are many different types of balloons which can be categorised under different headings.
Different Balloon Types
Balloons used at Parties
The most popular types of balloons are the ones we are used to seeing at parties, particularly a child’s party. These are frequently 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 inflated. Party balloons are almost always made of natural Latex tapped from rubber trees. The rubber’s elasticity makes the volume variable. Balloons filled with air will hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.
Printed balloons can be used to advertise a company or fund raising event.
Mylar(Foil) Balloons
The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are much more high priced 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 made an appearance at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and they caused quite a stir. These balloons have a nice shiny reflective surfaces and can be supplied with colour images, branding and patterns to customise them. The most useful characteristic of metalized nylon for balloons is its capacity to prevent the Helium gas from leaking for several weeks because it is less porus. Foil balloons also have the advantage of being light weight, longer-lasting with increased buoyancy. They are perfect for extraordinary celebrations, in-store displays, parties and for gifts. At our gran’s ninetieth birthday celebration recently my son brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the atmosphere of the party.
Animal-Shaped Balloons
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 exceptional balloons make a very bright decorative effect for that special event. Animal shaped balloons may be used as gifts or as a talking point at your special event.
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 most people falling about laughing as it zooms all over the room. This demonstration is teaching the children basically how a rocket works and they are called balloon rockets. As a child I can remember being enthralled as I learned how they worked.
When the mouth of the balloon is let-go, the elasticity of the balloon contracts so that the greater pressure of air inside is forced out causing the balloon to be propelled forward. This is in effect how a rocket works. The balloon can also be filled with different gases other than air, with similar results. Balloon rockets are a widely used a teaching device to reveal the principles in science of the operation of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also frequently 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 activity.
Balloons and Water
The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for kids to chuck at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other soaking wet. They are usually smaller than normal balloons and made from thin rubber so that they can be easily broken.
Helium 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 air, 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 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 lessens 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.Helium is a gas which is lighter than air making Helium balloons to rise up unless tied to something fixed.
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 more difficult, but on occasion more ambitious sculptures have been built 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 restricted because of the shape of the balloons but with clever colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive design at your party. The balloons need to be precision filled with exactly the same amount of gas 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 larger in size, stronger and made from 100% biodegradable Latex. Sometimes Helium balloons are used as table decorations for grand dinner parties which may have three or 5 balloons with an arrangement of flowers. The decoration will normally include curled ribbon with an added weight to keep the balloons on the table.
Modelling and Art with Balloons
Balloon modelling is a fascinating entertainment for children and adults alike and is not to be confused with balloon sculptures discussed previously. 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 tubular balloons into shapes resembling 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 handy work. These tiny tubular balloons are extremely difficult 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 evening lots of balloons are dropped 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 creating a festive atmosphere at the party climax, so everyone goes home feeling they have had a really good time.
It is easy enough 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 assistants to help with inflating balloons as it can take a long time 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 released. You will also need to devise a mechanism for releasing the balloons.
By investing in balloon printing gives that extra something special on the day.
Releasing Balloons on Mass
Due to 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 that is available on their website at www.nabas.co.uk
If you are preparing a balloon release in excess of 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 notified about balloon releases involving less than 5,000. An application form can be acquired 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 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 produce the NRL. The NRL is obtained by tapping older trees and is an vital sustainable crop providing employment for many agricultural labourers in some of the poorest regions 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 casualty of the clearance of land for arable use. One of the great benefits of NRL cultivation is the significant 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.
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 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.
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.