Be a responsible balloon professional. Use weights on your balloons and ask your customers not to release them.

As most of you are probably aware, California came very close to banning all foil balloons, claiming that they were responsible for power outages. We all have to work diligently to educate the balloon consumer.

************

Valentine's Day

Did you know more balloons are sold on Valentine's Day than any other holiday?

Water Balloons and NASA

Have you ever wondered how a water balloon would behave in outer space? Well a couple scientists at NASA did. Check out this great video!

Add SparkleTM Products to your decor

Jazz up your holiday designs with Sparkle^TM Products from Qualatex! Easy to use with a big bang for your buck! Click here for great ways to use this unique product, then log on to msrballoons.com to see all the styles available.

California Law Update

Thanks to the efforts of California balloon retailers and distributors, manufacturers of foil balloons and The Balloon Council, compromises have been made that will save the balloon industry in California. We urge all of you in every state to follow these guidelines and show that we can all be responsible for our own industry.

Ever Seen a Balloon Pop?

Here is a fantastic super slow motion video of a balloon popping - take a look.

How Balloons Are Made

YouTube has some great videos about balloons. Here is one that shows latex balloon production - click the balloon below to see how it was made. :)

And thanks to Balloon HQ here is some additional information on how latex balloons are made:

Balloons are manufactured from a liquid rubber called latex. The balloon gets its color from the pigment that is added to the latex. Pigments are both organic and inorganic compounds that absorb certain wavelengths of visible light and reflect others. For example, a red balloon is red because the balloon absorbs all the visible light except red frequency light which is reflected back to the eye.

The strength of balloons can be affected by the pigment if the pigment particle is large in size and interferes with the film continuity and if the pigment reacts with any of the other ingredients in the balloon. As far as which color has the most effect on the balloons strength, we have not done any in depth study. Since we use pigments that are water dispersions of very, very, small particle size, and they do not react with any other ingredients in the latex, we do not detect any difference.

The natural rubber latex that we use comes from the sap of the rubber tree , Heveabrasiliensis, that grows in Malaysia. This sap looks like milk and is shipped to America in large ocean tanker ships. Once removed from the tree, the sap is called latex. To make this suitable for balloon production, curing agents, accelerators, oil, color, and water must be added. After these are added, the completed latex is put in an open top tank, and the balloon form, which is in the shape of a balloon, is dipped. Before the form is dipped into latex, it is dipped into a coagulent that causes the rubber particles of the latex to collect on the form. This coagulent is calcium nitrate, water, and/or alcohol. After the coagulent coated form is dried, it is then dipped into the compounded latex. Then the latex coated form passed through a set of revolving brushes that rolls the balloon neck into the bead that is used to aid in the inflation of the balloon. The latex coated form is then washed in hot water to remove any unused nitrate. Following the leaching, the form is put in a 200-220 degrees Fahrenheit oven to cure for 20-25 minutes. When cured, the rubber balloon is removed from the form (stripped).

Continued.............

"How Balloons are Made"courtesy of Balloon HQ - Educating the World About Balloons and Balloon Art. For more information about balloons and Balloon HQ please visit http://www.balloonhq.com/index.html