Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

[anon]

Like for example when im using Qualatex 16 inch balloons, it feels like the Pearl finished balloons are smaller in size than the jewel finished balloons.

Exact same thing with the Qualatex 11 inch balloons, the chrome ones get to a bigger size than the pearl balloons?

Is it only me or is it an actual thing?

[srob2]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

Different finishes and even different colors will get to different sizes. I remember when most white balloons would get bigger than colored, although this seems less with manufacturing being better.

Pearls are fun since they sometimes stretch much bigger even after they've been inflated to being hard and having a neck. Metalics will do this to a lesser extent.

I don't know about chrome, they haven't been around long and are a little expensive to b2p.

[AJK64]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

In my experience Metalics tend to not get very big, often not even to rated size with most brands, followed by pearl, then standard, with jewels/Crystal's being the easiest to get past rated size.

Like srob2 mentioned, different colours of some brands tend to get bigger too. I used to love 12 inch u unique crystal purples as you could push those things up to around 15" fairly easily, but I think they changed the latex mix a few years ago.

[Meililoon]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

I don't have much experience with other finishes than standard and crystals, but I've noticed that the colors varies a lot sometimes. Most recently I inflated six 17" Tuf-Tex in different crystal colors. The blue, orange and purple were all still quite soft at rated size, while especially the green and red were really tight. Crystal yellow 16" Unique also seem to get really big with ease.

[underpressure]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

I've also found that for a given size class (11", 16", etc), jewel/crystal colors tend to get the biggest, followed by standard, then metallic/pearl. Chrome (and betallatex/sempertex new reflex clone) are kinda in the middle - they tend to be long, and neck quite easily. I've also noticed that chrome don't seem to do well with being reinflated, I've had a fair few develop holes.

[BusterBill]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

Is it only me or is it an actual thing?

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It's not just you -- different types of balloons (metallic, pearl, pastel, crystal, solid colors, and so forth) all have different inflation characteristics. I remember discussing this a few years ago with a balloon chemist who was a Balloon Buddies member. He said that they use specific chemical additives that give latex the desired "finish" (to use your term). Various chemicals and processes will make a balloon crystal, or opaque, or metallic, or pearlized, and so forth. A side effect is that the additives can also make the latex thicker, thinner, stiffer, softer, stretchier or more "brittle" to a noticeable degree.

Even among balloons of the same finish (for example, solid colors) the different color dyes that are used can cause some colors to inflate much larger than balloons of other colors in the batch. I've noticed that Qualatex 16" solid color orange balloons are often unusually stretchy, and can inflate 15% or more larger than the other colors.

So both the "finish" and the dye can both contribute to the differences that you've noticed.

[palloncino90]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

I noticed it with Tuftex 17". Crystal orange, burgundy, purple, blue and green got bigger than red and yellow ones, these ones get tight easier at their rated size; this is why I avoid these colors, being a non-popper I like softer balloons. The Tuftex 17" white is even softer and get bigger than the standard pink, but standard orange and blue get big like the white.

[wildheart]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

Try the tuftex 14” crystal yellow. You can get them to 18” but they won’t last long after being reinflated. They’re really soft and stretchy.

[LondonLarry]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

In the old now defunct Qualtex 24"; Yellow balloons got massive.

[SRider]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

I think the quality of manufacturing has a lot to do with it. Chinese-made balloons, especially the 36" flute-moulded balloons I have now, show a big difference in tightness between colors, but it is barely noticeable in American-made Walmart balloons, although to be fair I haven't tried any crystal colors from that range.

[Mazilon]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

I don't know if it's all in the head, but back when I still got multicolored bags of Q16 jewels the yellows, reds and clears seemed to get a lot bouncier and larger on subsequent inflations than the others. Jewels as a whole did seem sturdier under abuse than the solid colors or metallics.

Nowaways I pretty much only use Q18 clear stuffers regularly, the rest are just for special occasions.

[BalloonBoyUK]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

The simple answer is, yes! Whilst modern balloon manufacturing processes should mean that all balloons of the same size, should get to the same infalted size, regardless of their colour, the fact is that there are lots of potential for things to affect their size: the thickness of the latex, the amount of colour added (and sometimes even which coloured dye/inks are used), as well as the temperature of the balloon and the room it is being inflated it.

To be fair, most branded balloons won't vary quite so much, but you will still get anomalies: ones that blow up much bigger, or - in some cases - smaller, than they should.

But generally-speaking, yes, plain colours blow-up better than metallics will.

[heleo]

Re: Are certain balloon finishes bigger than other finishes?

The metailcs are less streachy becuase they are made to look metalic by adding Mica (a rock) to the latex. Thus a qualtex 36" will only be a 30" in the metalic range.