My Lovely Balloons
Posted May 18th, 2010 by adminIntroduction 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 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 need.
When you think about it, a balloon is quite an odd 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-flexible material but modern balloons 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.
Balloon History
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 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 community.
The first public showing of a balloon was at the Portuguese Court in Lisbon in seventeen hundred and nine by a Portuguese priest, Bartolomeu de Gusmao, and was most 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 science experiments with Hydrogen, but the more familiar 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 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 many differing purposes, and decorated in numerous ways to accommodate the occasion.
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.
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 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 varying sizes and colours and can have printing on sometimes which expands as the balloon is inflated. Party balloons are mostly made of natural Latex tapped from rubber trees. The rubber’s elasticity makes the dimensions variable. Balloons filled with air always hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.
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. Printed balloons are an excellent way 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 generally 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 made an appearance at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and they caused quite a stir. Mylar balloons have beautiful high gloss reflective surfaces and can be supplied with colour pictures, logos and designs to customise them. The most useful attribute of metalized nylon for balloons is its capacity to retain the Helium gas from leaking for several weeks because it is less permeable. Foil balloons also have the advantage of being light weight, longer-lasting with increased buoyancy. They are best for extraordinary celebrations, in-store displays, parties and for gifts. At my mother’s 90′th birthday celebration in April my son’s girlfriend brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the atmosphere of the party.Mylar balloons or foil balloons can also be made into star shapes and can be printed with branding to advertise a company.
Balloons Shaped as Animals
Animal shaped balloons are ade from metalized nylon which can easily be cut into pieces so that when sewn 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 items make a very bright decorative show for that special event. Animal shaped balloons may be used as gifts or as a talking point at your special event.
Rockets from Balloons
Inflating a balloon and letting it go before tying it is as game most children enjoy at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes generally has most people falling about laughing as it speeds all over 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 child I can remember being fascinated as I learned how they worked.
When the mouth of the balloon is released, the balloon contracts so that the greater pressure of air inside is forced out causing the balloon to be propelled forward. This is fundamentally how a rocket works. The balloon can also be inflated with different gases other than air, resulting inthe same effect. Balloon rockets are a widely used a learning aid to reveal the principles in laws of nature of the functioning of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also often 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 excitement to the fun.
Balloons Filled With Water
The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for youngsters to fling at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other soaking wet. They are quite often not as big as normal balloons and made from thin 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 usually 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 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. A balloon release of thousands of brightly coloured Helium balloons released at the same time make a extraordinary sight.
Balloon Sculpting
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 constructed 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 limited because of the round shape of the balloons but with clever colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive design at your special event. 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 larger in size, stronger and made from one hundred percent 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 usually include curled ribbon with an added weight to keep the balloons on the table.
Modelling and Art with Balloons
Balloon modelling is a popular entertainment for children and adults alike and should 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 modelling 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
Most people have seen a party or dance where at the end of the event lots of balloons fall from the roof to create excitement and fun amongst the party guests. This is called 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 generating a festive atmosphere at the party climax, so everyone goes away feeling they have had a really good time.
It is possible to create your own balloon drop for that special event as long as you have a room with high enough ceilings. 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 friends to help with inflating balloons as it can take quite a while to do the number needed. Then insert the inflated balloons into the container and make sure the opening is central so that the balloons will drop onto the target area below when they are released. You will also need to develop a mechanism for releasing the balloons, and make sure you have thoroughly tested it so everything goes to plan at the big moment.
A cost effective way of promoting your event is by using advertising balloons purpose made and printed with your chosen slogan.
Balloon Releases
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 planning a balloon release involving 5,000 balloons, it is a requirement 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
Balloon Safety and The Environment
Latex is a natural product obtained from rubber trees that are cultivated in certain regions of the tropics, so balloons are actually organic being made of natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not cut down to extract the NRL. The NRL is obtained by tapping mature trees and is an crucial sustainable crop providing employment for many agricultural labourers 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 grow.
The planting and maintenance of rubber tree plantations contributes towards the prevention of tropical rainforest deforestation. Without the cultivation and the consumption of Latex products the plantations might easily become yet another victim of the clearance of land for farming. One of the great by-products 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.
Conclusion
The toy balloon has been a source of delight 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.