Gumball balloons won't float longer than 8 hours

by Brogan
(Scotland )

Gumball balloon not staying afloat

I am having trouble making gumball balloons. I inflate the inner latex balloons with helium, the clear bubble balloon with helium and tie tightly but the balloons only last a few hours and end up on the floor. Please help?

ANSWER

Hi Brogan,

I am sorry to hear about the problems with gumball balloons staying afloat.

I found a few good videos at Balloon Market's YouTube channel (BMTV).

This one shows how to create a gumball balloon, filled with 12 x 5 inch latex balloons:



The main take-aways are:

* Inflate the deco bubble immediately after taking it out of its packaging. They dry out quickly.

* Tie each 5 inch latex balloon twice and cut off the tip of the balloon neck to reduce the weight of the latex balloons.

* Tie off the last 5 inch balloon and the bubble balloon together, either using the neck of the 5 inch balloon or by using a flattened 160Q balloon.

The second method seems to be the best one. It's important to "flatten" the 160Q balloon first (i.e. remove any air that might be trapped in it) and to stretch it REALLY tight when you wrap it around the combined necks of the deco bubble and the 5 inch latex.

Here's the video showing how to tie bubble balloons. They use air for demonstration purposes, but it works the same for helium filled bubbles:



Hope that helps!

Margit