Shapes[]
The first balloon was probably a flat paddle balloon with a pear shape. The pear shape persists in many party balloons even those made on full molds. Molds can be a flat paddle like you might cut out of cardboard, or a full machined shape, or a fluted shape which is a compromise and made typically with 4 flutes like two paddle balloon molds joined together down the center. Some balloons such as punch balls can be made with more flutes. There have been “super round” balloons made with as many as 16 flutes.
Round balloons can also be spherical and lose the pear shaped taper into the neck area. These will often be made on fluted molds (and often when just filled with a bit of air and not yet inflating they will be almost box shaped).
The other popular balloon shape is the airship. It is cylindrical and inflates like a long tube, and starts out like a long tube. The most common of these is the twister balloons designed for people who make balloon animals. However there are sizes much larger than these long thin balloons. Variations include the Jelly Bean balloons which were short and very fat and huge airship balloons that can blow up seven feet long and ones that can inflate to two feet in diameter down their entire length.
The blimp or Zeppelin shape is also long but it is not cylindrical. It bulges in the center or middle part of its length. One of the most remarkable was made by Tilly and had a rounded nose. Though rated at 12 inch by 40 inches it could inflate to over five feet and get 15 inches in diameter largely due to its well designed profile. Most blimp balloons now tend to have a more pointed end.
Another variation is the knobby balloon. This is an airship which is somewhat like a string of small balloons grafted together and inflates as it initially looks, like a series of bulges end to end. The most extreme example of this was “The Worker Balloon” which was seen at state fairs and similar venues. It was a huge balloon that could inflate almost 12 feet long and really attracted attention for the balloon sellers who were “working” the crowd. However the balloons they sold were smaller versions of similar knobby balloons.
The Geo balloon is a very clever balloon which has a hole in it. It is donut shaped. When the machine is working correctly they can be very good but they have a tricky seam that can sometimes be a weak spot. A variation was the “petal” shape which was like a knobby donut. They were made in both a tiny 6 inch size and a 16 inch size.
Two basic types of balloons have ears. The mouse ear balloons which tend to have ears like two smaller balloons grafted onto the larger “head” balloon and the cathead balloons which are now rare and had longer tapered ears. The heart shaped balloon is basically the same thing but with ears that are quite fat and short so when inflated the balloon adopts a heart shape. All such balloons are weak between the two “ears”.
The doll balloon is basically two balloons grafted together, a pear shaped large body one and a smaller round one for the head. Doll balloons tend to be rare. A company in Canada made them years ago designed to inflate about four to five feet tall. Giant doll balloons are still made and can inflate taller than that and MUCH fatter.
After these basic shapes you have a wild array of animal and other shapes lumped together as “figurine” balloons. They often have a number of sections grafted together and can be quite large.
Any time a balloon has more than one section or even an abrupt transition from the body to its neck, it runs into physics. It takes more pressure to inflate a small diameter than a large one. In the larger section the pressure trying to stretch the latex gets to work on more square inches inside and thus exert more total force on the latex making it stretch.
This means such balloons are difficult to inflate. It is not easy to design something like a mousehead balloon that can just be put on a pump and inflated with the ears inflating on command without the body bursting first. The same for a doll balloon where getting the head to inflate before the body just bursts trying is tricky.
Complex balloons can be a real challenge to figure out how to inflate. Of course you can just hook one up to a compressed gas source and hope and if the design is well done each part should inflate in turn, often with a sudden whoomp. That is because once the smaller part starts to inflate, it actually becomes easier to blow up so the overpressure built up trying to get this smaller area to inflate gushes into it until the stress equalizes again.
An interesting experiment was the Playloon. It was designed to be inflated to 30 to 36 inches and heavy gauge latex so it could withstand more rough handling than a typical balloon. While they were available they were a favorite type among balloon collectors.
How to tie a long balloon | Step by Step Video Tutorial
FAQ
What do you call the long balloons?
Are there different types of balloons?
What are the different balloon sizes?
What are the different types of balloons?
In this article I will make a review about kinds and type of balloons. There are many types of balloons, in a variety of sizes and shapes, made of two main materials: Latex balloons (in various shapes and sizes) and foil balloons in a variety of shapes. These are the birthday balloons, which are actually the normal balloons that everyone knows.
What is a latex balloon?
This liquid rubber is what’s used to create the classic latex balloon. While latex balloons are usually seen in clusters at birthday parties, they aren’t meant to be kept for long. The material of a latex balloon is porous, and air will gradually leak out from the rubber.
What is the difference between a latex balloon and a balloon decor?
Unlike latex balloons, these particular types of decor are made from a few materials, instead of just one. Mylar, a type of nylon, creates the base material for the balloon. Then, aluminum foil is added as a thin layer over the mylar.
What is the size of a round balloon?
The size of the round balloon (for example, 5 inches) is actually the diameter of the balloon when it is almost fully inflated. By the way, the most common size of round balloons (with which we often create balloon designs for events with) is 12 or 11 inches. Of course it’s also the name of the balloon: 11-inch balloon or 12-inch balloon.