If you want to buy balloons, there are plenty of options to choose from. Balloons are an affordable, convenient, and fun way to decorate any room or event, and you can buy balloons from party supply stores or even grocery stores. When you buy balloons, you can choose from latex balloons and foil balloons, and these different models offer different advantages. Foil balloons come in a wider variety of shapes, while latex balloons can bought in the dozens for a low price. Air filled balloons may last a long time, while helium balloons may float around for a while before they deflate. What is there to know about these decorations when you go out to buy balloons?
All About Latex Balloons
The very idea of balloons is older than some people may realize, and they date back to the early 1800s. In 1824, professor Michael Faraday invented them when he fused the edges of two rubber sheets and inflated them, creating prototype balloons. Today, it is much more common to make latex balloons, since harvesting that much rubber puts a serious strain on forests with rubber trees. Instead, it is possible to harvest a lot of latex from certain trees for years without killing them, which makes latex much more environmentally sustainable for balloons than rubber is.
What is there to know about buying and blowing up these latex balloons? They are the most typical sort of balloon, and they are usually a teardrop shape when they are fully inflated, though some models may in fact be heart shaped balloons, too. These balloons are very affordable even when they are bought in a pack of dozens or 100 of them, and they can be filled with either helium or air. Air filled balloons are easier to inflate, and a person can even blow them up with their own breath. These balloons will last longer than helium filled ones, though they can’t actually float. Meanwhile, a buyer may actually own a helium pump, or they can simply buy helium filled balloons from a grocery store or have a party supply store fill them with helium. Such balloons should be kept on strings with a weight on the end.
Basic caution should be taken with these latex balloons. Babies, children, and pets should not be allowed near balloons before they are inflated, since these balloons are a choking hazard until they are blown up to full size. Also, balloons like these should not be allowed near sharp objects or near heat sources, since the air inside will expand from heat and rupture balloon. Open fires or large, hot light bulbs might pop a balloon.
Foil Balloons
Meanwhile, other balloons are made of two foil sheets that are fused at the edges, and then inflated with helium. Unlike latex balloons, these foil balloons may come in a wide variety of shapes, depending on how the foil sheets are cut. These festive balloons can be made into heart, circles, squares, or even letters or numbers, such as for a birthday. These foil sheets may have graphics printed on them, such as “happy birthday” or “get well soon” message, or brand name graphics from pop culture or the like. Often, these foil balloons can be purchased already inflated and with a string and weight, such as at a grocery store or at a party supply store.
Where to Use Balloons
Where might someone use these fun and cheap decorations? A birthday party is a good example. Kid are bound to love colorful balloons at their birthday parties along with other decorations, and these balloons can be filled with air and taped to the walls or the backs of chairs. These balloons can even form ball pits on the floor. A girl’s “sweet 16” birthday party may involve pink or white balloons, not to mention foil balloons that form a “16” when put side by side.
Balloons are often a great gift for a hospital patient who is recovering, along with flowers or fruits baskets. And at a senior high school prom, the ceiling may have a cage that houses thousands of air filled balloons, which can be manually released. These balloons make for a great time when they scatter all over the dance floor during the dance.
