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.

By adding the additional tulle, I unintentionally added more weight to the design. I used nine 11" latex balloons to create each of my clouds. The balloons had not been treated with Hi-FLOAT (I cannot remember if I knew about HI-FLOAT back in those days.) As the wedding progressed the helium inside the balloons gradually 'leaked' through the balloons surface (this process is known as diffusion) and therefore the balloons no longer retained their maximum lift capacity. The two outer clouds started to pull inwards as the weight of the tulle dragged the clouds down - as the customer put it, the clouds "fell down". 

How could I have prevented this from happening? 

• 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! 

Another one of my 'failures', actually turned into a bit of a positive experience, but it was a complete fluke!

I was asked to create 3' 'Gumballs' for a corporate event. The problem that I had was that I had very limited set up time, and definitely not enough time to make each of the 'Gumballs' on site. For those of you who are not really sure what a 'Gumball' is, it is the ballooning term for a large balloon filled with smaller balloons inside, a bit like a gumball machine, similar to Tina's beautiful balloons shown below.

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.

Once I arrived at the venue I started to inflate the prepared 3' balloons with helium and position on each of the tables. I have to confess, I was a little disappointed with how the balloons looked. The 5" balloons appeared to look very small (I think that some of the air had been squeezed out of the balloons when the 3' was sucked onto them prior to inflation, also I really had not put enough 5" balloons inside to create a good visual impact!) 

After about an hour of working, I looked back to see how many tables I had completed, to my surprise the balloons looked much better than they had looked when I first inflated them! The 5" balloons looked bigger and the 3' balloon looked much fuller. I had absolutely no idea why, but as you can imagine I was happy... although a few of the 5" balloons did start popping and I wasn't sure why!

This is where I made my error:

• 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.

How could I have prevented this from happening? 

• 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.

I have of course encountered various other preventable problems, like using dark coloured balloons outside on a hot sunny day! All of the the balloons either popped or shrunk due to the intense heat. Lesson learned: only use light coloured and under-inflated balloons outside on hot sunny days! 

I have written a blog about balloons and how to work in different weather conditions, click Here or visit https://theverybestballoonblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/balloons-and-great-outdoors.html

It is never fun to have a ballooning failure. But now,  with so many freely available resources like The Very Best Balloon Blog, you should be able to do much of your own research in advance! My motto is always, "if in doubt, test it out," and that way you can try and test your methods and have confidence that it will work! 

Happy Successful Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler