How many times have you reused a balloon?

[wildheart]

I have some new balloons (Q11, belbal 14 and a Q24) and was wondering how many times they can be reinflated before there's a risk of popping. After fully inflating and deflating a Q11 it looks very thin but seems fine at the moment but I don't want any to pop as I'm still very phobic at the moment.

[lyckr]

I have a couple of GLs I've probably reused 20 times or so. Generally speaking, the smaller the balloon, the fewer times I reuse them.

[b0f0s0f]

It depends on what you're doing with them, if you abuse them they might not last very long, but if you're not overinflating them too much you can reuse 12" quite a few times, I always do. I have some pearlized 9" ones that are totally stretched out because I've blown them so big and so many times and they haven't popped yet after a dozen or so inflations so I think in general they don't wear out that fast. I did try to stretch some other 9"ers with heat and stretching and inflation and those burst just barely past rated size after just a few inflations though, so again it depends on what you're doing with them.

I'm a semi-popper and it can often get agrivating if a balloon pops when I don't want it to so I have a method to test how long a balloon lasts. I give it a 30 second session to see if it's sturdy which I will know will last a lot of uses. My record is 20 uses. If a balloon doesn't feel sturdy and I know it won't take much to pop I will set it in the Pile of balloons I save for a pop session but those are rare.

[Seasider]

I have a load of qualatex 11" polka dots and some of them have had 6 or 7 inflations and seem pretty ok still. My belbal 14" get huge after a couple of inflations compared to a new one and also seem ok?

I am ultra cautious of weak spots when inflating and if I see a few I tend to tie off and not re inflate. I would say that I've had more accidental pops with qualatex than belbal lately. The only belbal that pooped without warning was being inflated on an electric pump. I should have know better because it was resistant from a very small size so clearly had a fault. It popped At about half its rated size. I am a non popper so am very cautious on inflation, good luck with yours!

I have added a pic of a couple of belbals. The blue one on the left has had one inflation to about 60% rated size compared to the purple one which is brand new, just for a comparison of how big they get on the first go!

[wildheart]

Mine seem to be a lot bigger and thinner after just a few inflations.
Belbal 14 on left, qualatex 11 on right. One new one inflated once or twice

[OverTheTop]

Ahh, the perfect thread for me!

My favorites are the GL series balloons from Cattex, which are gigantic even when uninflated.



From left to right:

• Used clear GL1200
• Used heat stretched yellow GL700
• Used purple GL500
• Unused white GL1200
• Unused blue GL700
• Unused purple GL500

Plus a standard 12-inch ruler for scale. The used GL1200 is almost four feet long

[Seasider]

Wow there's a massive difference between them all! Thanks for sharing

[OverTheTop]

Wow there's a massive difference between them all! Thanks for sharing

No problem!

[bigballcollector]

I reuse balloons until they start to show big weak spots or the color itself starts to fade giving a more translucent one.