Have you ever had a ballooning failure?
This is something that most people really never want to talk about or admit... FAILURE!
In my ballooning career I have fortunately never really had a true epic failure (thank goodness), but I have definitely had things that have gone wrong. As a result of these 'failures', I was able to learn more about the science of balloons, and the experience helped me to grow into a much more competent balloon artist!
When one first starts out on their ballooning journey, it is impossible to know or understand everything about the humble balloon! Some of us get the opportunity to attend a beginners course, but even then we try to absorb so much information that not all of it sticks!
One of my earliest 'failures' was when I created a design called a 'Cloud 9' - A Cloud 9 is a display that consists of 9 helium-filled balloons, arranged together to form a 'cloud' shape. Each cloud is topped with a balloon; this same design today have a bigger balloon, like a 16" double-bubble (an 11" balloon inflated inside a 16" Diamond Clear latex balloon) or a 20" or 24" Qualatex Bubble Balloon used in a similar way. Each cloud is individually secured to an invisible nylon line then weighted. The three clouds are then linked together using voile or tulle to create a picture perfect Arch.
I had made this style of design on a number of occasions previously, the only difference on this occasion was that the bride wanted the 'clouds' to be positioned further apart, which resulted in me using more tulle than usual. This is where I made my error;
- Latex balloons have a limited lift ability, for example an individual 11" balloon can lift approximately 9 grams weight.
- Helium inside balloons that have not been treated with Hi-FLOAT dissipates over a fairly short period of time, which means that the lifting power reduces each hour.
- Increase the lift ability on each of the clouds by using a bigger topper, instead of using an 11", using a 16" Double-Bubble as mentioned above would have improved the lifting power greatly, and by using a Qualatex Deco Bubble (not available in those days) it would have guaranteed the longevity of the design.
- Always use HI-FLOAT when working with latex balloons! HI-FLOAT is a guarantee that your helium-filled balloons will last. To learn more about HI-FLOAT visit https://www.hi-float.com
- Test, Test, Test - if in doubt, always test a design so that you understand what can go wrong and how to resolve it before you sell it to a client!
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| Gumball Design by Tina Giunta, CBA, of Shivoo Balloons in Melbourne, Australia. |
To make the 'Gumballs' I used a balloon stuffing machine which enabled me to easily insert pre-inflated 5" balloons inside each of the 3' giant Diamond Clear latex balloons the day before the event. To ensure that I could transport all of these prepared balloons, I did not inflate the 3' balloons after I had inserted the 5" balloons to make transportation easier, the 3' balloons resembled blackberries, with all the 5" squeezed into the 3' Diamond Clear.
- I had filled the 5" balloons with air and not helium. By doing this, once I inflated the 3' balloon with helium, the helium started to filter through the latex of the 5" balloons and the 5" balloons started to expand which caused a few of them to pop. Thankfully, because my 5" where actually quite small in the first place, it only caused a few of them to pop!
- Allowing the 3' balloon to deflate into the 5" balloons inside (and leaving them in this state for a day) really caused a huge amount of pressure on the 5" balloons inside the 3' balloon, which caused them to lose air, and in some cases to completely deflate.
- I learned that day that you cannot mix air-filled balloons and helium-filled balloons! Air is a much bigger molecule than helium and does not naturally filter through a latex balloon as easily as helium. However, as helium is a much smaller molecule, it will easily filter or pass through latex balloons, therefore causing an air-filled 5" balloons to expand until they can eventually pop. When you put helium-filled 5" inside a helium-filled 3' balloon or any other balloons, the helium moves and passes freely inside the 3' balloon and through the 5" balloons without causing any effect on the balloons inside.
- If you need to prepare your balloons in advance, first make sure that you use the correct gases (never mix.) If you do not wish to fully inflate the balloons for transportation purposes, add enough helium or air to ensure that the 5" are not squashed and then temporary tie the balloons using a clip or a 260Q that can be easily removed to enable you to fill the balloons fully onsite.
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