Introduction to Balloons
The word ‘Balloons’ conjures up pictures 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 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 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 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 filled up to create much larger sizes than earlier ones.
History of Balloons
The earliest known balloons were very simple 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 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. Early balloons were made of animal guts and were turned into play things for the local children.
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 eighteen forty seven. 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 many 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 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.
Different Balloon Types
Balloons for Parties
The most widely recognised types of balloons are the ones we are used to seeing at parties, generally 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 varying sizes and colours and can have printing on the face 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 size variable. Balloons filled with air will 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!
There is a great range of colours for balloons and many different sizes due to the flexibility of the material from which they are made. Get something unique made by arranging for printed balloons to use at your party or event.
Foil Balloons
The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are slightly more costly 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 were used at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and they caused quite a stir. Mylar balloons have attractive high gloss reflective finish and can be printed with colour images, logos and patterns to customise them. The most important property of metalized nylon for balloons is its propensity to keep 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 best for unusual celebrations, in-store displays, parties and for gifts. At my mother’s ninetieth birthday celebration last month my daughters brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the atmosphere of the party.
Balloons in Animal Shapes
Animal shaped balloons 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 exceptional items make a very bright decorative show for that special event. Balloons shaped like animals may be used as gifts or as a talking point at your special event.
Rocket Balloons
Inflating a balloon and releasing it go before tying it is as game most youngsters enjoy at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes usually has most people falling about laughing as it shoots around the building in a random manner. This demonstration is teaching the children basically how a rocket works and they are called balloon rockets. As a youngster I can remember being enthralled as I learned why it did that.
When the top of the balloon is released, 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 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 show the principles in physics of the functioning of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also frequently used to demonstrate Newton’s third law in physics.
Balloons Filled With Water
The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for children to lob at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other drenched. They are generally not as big as normal sized balloons and made from weaker rubber so that they can be easily broken.
Helium Filled Balloons
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 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 life span 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. For any large fund raising or promotional event it is better to purchase wholesale balloons to acquire the amount required.
Sculpting with Balloons
Balloon Sculptures are made from 100′s 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 built so they are possible. These sculptures are usually made and designed by professional party decorators as it is a skilled job. Balloon sculptures are really quite restricted because of the round shape of the balloons but with clever colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive feature at your gathering. 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. Industrial quality balloons differ from most retail packet balloons as they are bigger in size, stronger and made from 100% biodegradable Latex. Sometimes Helium balloons are used as table decorations for special events which may have three or 5 balloons with an arrangement of flowers. The decoration will usually include curled ribbon tied to a 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 employed by balloon modellers is made of extra-stretchy rubber so that it can be twisted and shaped and tied without popping 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 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 a load of balloons fall from the roof to create excitement and fun amongst the audience. This is 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 cost way of creating 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 item at the event.
It is easy enough to setup your own balloon drop for that 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. Get your other organisers to help with inflating balloons as it can take quite a while to do the number needed. Then load 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 performed at many other celebrations, such as graduations and weddings.
That special event can be made more dramatic with balloons arches particularly when used to create a grand entrance.
Balloon Releases
Because of concerns about the impact on the environment of a large number 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 arranging 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 before the event. The CAA also like to be notified about balloon races of 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 an organic product obtained from rubber trees that are grown in certain areas of the tropics, so balloons are completely organic being made of natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not cleared to produce the NRL. The NRL is obtained by tapping mature trees and is an crucial sustainable crop providing employment for many agricultural workers in some of the poorest areas of the world. Latex is a sustainable harvest 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 helps towards the prevention of tropical rainforest deforestation. Without the cultivation and the consumption of Latex products the plantations might easily become just another casualty of the clearance of land for farming. One of the great advantages 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. 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 pleasure 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 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.