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Tulle covered balloons

by Nicole
(New York)

Will they float? | Share with a friend or pin for later!

I am planning my daughters communion party and I have seen some balloon center pieces on Pinterest which I am very interested in.

The picture shows a balloon (looks like a traditional average latex balloon) covered in colored tulle and tied around the part you knot the balloon with pretty bows.

After googling, I have come across a few sites in which DIY mommas such as myself say that the tulle is too heavy and the balloon does not float. So, my question is how can I achieve the tulle wrapped around the balloon look that will be able to float as a table centerpiece? TIA :)

Answer: Will Tulle Covered Balloons Float?

Hi Nicole!

For the tulle covered balloon to float, its lifting capacity needs to be greater than the weight of the tulle and any other decorative items you would use.

Take a look at the Qualatex helium chart to find the lifting capacities of round latex balloons of different sizes.

For example, the lifting capacity of an 11 inch round latex balloon is 0.35 oz. (10g). A piece of tulle in the size you need to cover the balloon will easily weigh more than 0.35 oz.

A 30 inch latex balloon on the other hand can lift up to 6.5 oz. (184g), and a fully inflated 36 inch (3 feet) balloon up to 12 oz. (339g).

My suggestion would be to use at least a 30 inch balloon, inflate it fully with good quality helium, and use lightweight tulle.

Hope that helps, Nicole. Would love to hear about your experiences with the tulle covered balloons at your daughters communion party.

Best,

Margit

P.S.: Scroll down for other great questions and answers from our community, for example:

Creating the illusion of a floating balloon with fishing line

Making balloons float without helium

How to make a tulle covered table base for a balloon centerpiece that won't topple over

How much tulle you need to cover a balloon, and more

Comments for Tulle covered balloons

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Try this...
by: Lizzy

Fishing line is good for hanging things and is almost transparent. From a distance you can barely see it. Buy the thin clear/white looking kind. Hope this helps and best wishes!

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Answer to "make balloons float without helium"
by: Margit

There are ways to get balloons to float with hydrogene. As shown in the video below, you can make hydrogene yourself, using sodium hydroxide, water and tin foil.

However, as sodium hydroxide is highly corrosive and can cause severe burns, I wouldn't recommend doing this.

Making a balloon float without using any gas at all... hmm, the only way I can think of is to create the illusion of floating by attaching the balloon with fishing line to the ceiling, or any other suitable object in the room.

Also check out my answer about how to make air filled balloons float.

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Can You Make Balloons Float Without Helium
by: Anonymous

Is there anyway to make balloons float without helium or other gasses? I am planning something special for valentines day and do not have a way to get these things. Any DIY's??

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Reply to "Tulle covered balloon base"
by: Margit

Have you considered using clay pots or glass jars instead of plastic cups? Plastic cups are light weight and will more easily topple over.

Place a piece of Oasis Floral Foam Brick in the pot or jar (secure with glue if necessary for stability) and glue the balloon stick into the foam.

Then place mini pebbles into the pot or jar until it is fully filled.

The regular balloon sticks are rather flimsy. Check out these balloon sticks with flower stand base at Amazon.

They received good reviews. However, many people still said that they need extra support to prevent them from toppling over. You could either tape the base to the table, or go with the solution I suggested above.

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Tulle covered balloon base
by:

Hello! Im looking for suggestion on how I can make tulle covered balloons table centerpiece base. Im planning to use a plastic cup. What weight can I use and how can I make sure the the balloon stick will be straight.thanks

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RE: Using Balloon Sticks to help support
by: Anonymous

I'm working on an event right now, and I will warn you that balloon sticks are extremely flimsy. I was experimenting on a 30" balloon filled with regular air and no attachments (figured that would about balance out to fully filled with helium balloon of the same size wrapped with tulle, including an 18" tail).

The sticks did ok at about 34" with just a 34" stick and the cup (did not have the same result with 2 17" sticks connected with a connector).

When I made them taller, more to the centerpiece height I was hoping for, which was about 8ft all connected and reinforced with additional sticks at all the joints, the balloon flopped over all the way to the ground.

I added more reinforcement, same result. I came to the conclusion that the only way to combat this was to purchase the thinnest PVC pipe I could find (or another kind of pipe that would look better, but that just wasn't going to be in the budget for this event, neither was the PVC come to find out since I would have needed a stronger base for it too), thread the sticks through that, spray paint the whole thing so it didn't look too tacky, and then attach the balloon.

Ultimately, I decided to just experiment with it at the time of decoration. I may just use the tulle to make pretty bows to go around the entire bouquet of balloons instead so all the balloons can help hold the weight.

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Reply to Vanessa
by: Margit

Hi Vanessa,

You wrote...

"Hi, I want to make tulle-covered balloons. It says to buy 36" inch balloons but to only blow them up to 19", if this is the case, is it ok to buy 24" balloons?"

Where does it say to blow them up to 19" only? If you want the balloons to float, you should inflate them to their full size.

If you plan on hanging them from the ceiling, it's fine to use smaller balloons. It really depends on how you want them to look.

Hope that helps!

Best,
Margit

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Balloon Size
by: Vanessa

Hi, I want to make tulle-covered balloons. It says to buy 36" inch balloons but to only blow them up to 19", if this is the case, is it ok to buy 24" balloons?

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Regarding: How Much Tulle Do You Need
by: Margit

Hi there,

As a rule of thumb, get tulle that is at least 2x as wide as the balloon diameter.

For a 30 inch balloon, you'd need tulle that's 60 inches wide.

Please also check out my answer to a similar question here.

Best,
Margit

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Tulle Balloons
by: Anonymous

Just need to know how much tulle I need to cover a balloon?

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What do you think of this?
by: Anonymous

I'm planning to do this for my daughter's "ballerina" themed bat mitzvah centerpieces. I went into a panic when I read that the balloons don't float!!

I am going to try using balloon sticks stuck into either floral foam/basket or cylindrical vase with marbles for stability. Has anyone tried either of those?

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