Balloons - Everything you need to know!
When were balloons invented?
Early balloons - nothing like the ones we are used to today - were made from pig bladders and later from a rubber similar to that used to make rain boots.
Rubber balloons were invented in England by Michael Faraday in 1824, while he experimented with hydrogen. Rubber balloons were soon after sold for a penny each in parks and circuses in America.
However, the modern latex balloon - the prototype of what we know today - was invented in America during the Great Depression (early 1930's) by Neil Tillotson, a chemical engineer.
At the time, he was attempting to make inner tubes from a new product; liquid latex. At random he cut out the shape of a cat's head on some cardboard and dipped it in the latex. When the rubber dried, he inflated it and found, to his surprise, that he had made a 'cat balloon' with ears! He made about 2,000 balloons and sold them on the street during Boston's annual Patriot Day parade. Mr Tillotson later went on to create one of the USA's oldest and largest Latex balloon manufacturers, Tillotson Rubber Company.
In the late 1970s, silver metalized balloons were first made for the New York City Ballet. These balloons are commonly called Mylar, but they are actually made from sandwiched sheets of polyethylene and nylon that are then coated with aluminium. Because of this, the balloon trade tends to call them 'foil' balloons. This process makes them much more expensive to produce than latex balloons.
Where does the latex used in balloons come from?
Latex balloons are made from the sap of the rubber tree, Hevea brasilliensis. The liquid drips from harmless cuts in the bark and is collected in buckets. The use of the latex to make balloons and other products, such as adhesives and surgical gloves, make rubber trees economically valuable. More than 90% of the total world production of natural rubber now comes from Asia.
Are latex balloons biodegradable?
Latex is a 100% natural substance that degrades in both sunlight and water. Latex balloons begin to break down almost immediately. The frosting that makes a balloon look as if it's losing colour, is called oxidation, and one of the first signs of the process. Research shows that latex balloons will biodegrade at about the same rate as a leaf from an oak tree, given similar environmental conditions.
