I've been trying to stuff trash bags in my shirt and blow them up since I can't find any stores here that sell large balloons, but I have a hard time keeping air in at the opening as I blow it up.
Anyone got any pointers on how to keep the air in or other alternatives? Thanks.
I personally just say use the plastic bags for their original purpose and go buy a 3 foot in diameter beachball. The thick vinyl can take a licking and you don't have to worry about unwanted deflations or wasting a ton of bags.
I use trash bags with a bicycle pump. I use elastics where the pump goes in the opening. You should try to use more than one elastics and tighten them as tight as you can. (but look out you don't make a hole in it)
Trash bags are not always airtight, so you must check if there are no holes in it. If there are, make a knot in it.
There will always escape some air, but slowly so it shouldn't be a big problem.
(I hope I was understandable, becouse my English is not very fluent)
I had been using my breath through a straw but the opening around the straw seems to try and want to open up as I inflate it larger. I'd use a bike pump but ours is broken. >>
I had been using my breath through a straw but the opening around the straw seems to try and want to open up as I inflate it larger. I'd use a bike pump but ours is broken. >>
Probably worth the small investment...
Meanwhile, do you have access to a lot of rubber bands? That's probably the easiest way to make a tight seal in your case.
You can buy latex gloves at any grocery store/megamart. Make sure they are actual latex and not some substitute (substitutes don't blow up very far)! Latex gloves will expand to fill a door frame from side to side before bursting. If you want to add strength, place one inside another. The wide open end of the glove makes doubling up very easy. This results in increased strength and shape holding (very useful with water). I have expanded latex gloves to ridiculous sizes before they burst. If you're going to use water, I suggest finding some sort of unisex one piece swimsuit to support the weight and a removable shower head. If you want to seal against the hose on a removable shower head, take the head off and use electrical tape to seal it to the hose. It holds a great seal when tapes like duct tape would leak or scotch tape would simply come off. When you want to seal the glove off, just twist the end shut and wrap some electrical tape around it to hold it (or a tie of some sort would probably work as well). Have fun.
Screw inflated gloves... I got onto ebay and found 36" (three foot) inflatable latex balloons that were intended for centerpieces at proms/weddings (cost about $6 US apiece). They were amazing. I got my girlfriend to buy a loose, huge once piece swimsuit and we went to town on that (it was *awesome*. I could still reach everything and she got huge). I recommend using the rubberband as someone mentioned earlier and then using electrical tape to keep it from sliding. Using both seems to create an amazing seal that refuses to break. Sealing the balloon to a hose lets your crimp it off (and use a rubber band to keep the crimped hose that way) when you want to take a "break" from blowing up the balloon and better use your energy for different ends. Using a three foot balloon also a allows for a *lot* of punishment even when inflated to ridiculous size. We reused the same balloon twice to give you an idea and it only got a pinhole leak the second time which we may have inadvertently poked (and was easily patched quickly with e-tape). What a weekend. I'm going to see if they sell them by the box. Did I mention that I love my girlfriend? No? Well I do. I'm a lucky bastard.
If you just want giant balloons go to www.kaboomballoons.com , thats the site I use. You can get them really cheap there and they ship fast. And if you want to make giant strong bags, go to home depot and get that painter's plastic, they sell it up to 4 mil thick and you can just cut them and tape them together or use adhesive to make whatever size.
Thanks for the link. I'm going to go take a look.
I've never heard of Kaboom, so thanks for that advice. I'll also chime in with an endorsement for http://www.balloonlovers.com - I've ordered several things from Deb in the past and always been a satisfied customer. They also specialize in very large and/or import balloons.
Harrison, you lucky dog. :)
I've never heard of Kaboom, so thanks for that advice. I'll also chime in with an endorsement for http://www.balloonlovers.com - I've ordered several things from Deb in the past and always been a satisfied customer. They also specialize in very large and/or import balloons.Harrison, you lucky dog. :)
Thanks :D I consider myself a pretty darn lucky guy sometimes. Anyway, the people I bought my balloons from plan on putting up a deal for twenty 36" balloons (in response to a request) sometime this week (under special order). You can find their page here:
http://www.razmatazcelebrations.com/
Total cost of 20 balloons plus shipping is 63.60. I was extremely pleased with the quality , durability, and size of their balloons. Hopefully they'll update some time this week so I can buy a box of these things.
Balloons personally don't cut it with me. I like shape as well and not many balloons can maintain a round shape, they seem to spread. I can never get the right sense of pressure that I can get from a giant beachball. I'd like to own an actual rubber suit one day, maybe by the time I have the money, there will be major advances ^_^.
The ones we used held an excellent shape while being somewhat flexible. I don't think they're as stiff as a suit, but they were pretty thick skinned. The nice thing about balloons is that we could still reach everything where a suit would rule out certain things. The link is up now, btw. I'm ordering some today :)
http://www.razmatazcelebrations.com/catalog.php/razmatazcelebrations/pd1290851
balloons for me too :) i use this place for the uk and have balloons upto 72"
http://www.balloons.co.uk/shop/GB48+72%22+Uninflated+Giant+Balloon-p-2155.html
Man, you're lucky. The biggest I found this side of the Atlantic were these....
http://www.balloons.com/online/programs/nfrun.exe?showcat+2034
im sure they deliver outside uk
You can use Lawn/Garden Leaf Trash Bags for strength.
And you can tie the corners and pull inside out if the bag is "square" to get a rounded look.
I use trash bags stuffed into a unitard for inflation fun at times. It is pretty cool and can get fairly "tight" if you are into that as well.
rubber band one of those cheap bic pens, take it apart and use just the straw part, with blowing, use the end cap to plug it, and it fits in bike pumps
EDIT: rereading that, i didn't make much sense
Use a rubber band and the bic pen taken apart to close the hole of the trashbag with just the pen as the hole, and you can block that with the end cap of the pen
thats what i do, works with any bag
and it holds up well with pressure and squishing depending on how far down the bag you rubberbanded, and how tight the rubber band is
That is a brilliant idea. I've always just held the open end of the bag, not really being able to move freely but thanks for that.
Right now, I use those stretchy "extra strength" trash bags, a few rubber bands, and an airmatress pump. It works well, but I'd like to eventually get ahold of a weather balloon, or one of those gigantic beach balls.
Let's start with what you're using to blow them up -- vacuum in reverse? Bike pump? Breath? I think that will help spur some specific ideas.
Twitter | DeviantArt