The balloon becomes charged when rubbed with wool. It is attracted to the uncharged wall. The balloon often sticks for hours because the electrons do not move very well on the balloon. The balloon is a poor conductor.

When you rub a balloon with a wool cloth, the balloon captures electrons from the wool, leaving the balloon with a negative charge and the wool with a positive charge. If both balloons are rubbed with wool, they will both have same charge (negative) and therefore will repel each other.

When a rubber balloon is rubbed against human hair, electrons are transferred from the hair to the rubber, giving the balloon a net negative charge, and leaving the hair with a net positive charge. As the balloon is pulled away, the opposite charge on the hair causes it to be attracted to the balloon.

In contrast to the attractive force between two objects with opposite charges, two objects that are of like charge will repel each other. That is, a positively charged object will exert a repulsive force upon a second positively charged object. This repulsive force will push the two objects apart.

11” latex balloons generally last between 12-20 hours filled with helium, and about 2-3 days when treated with Hi-Float. Foil balloons last approx. 5-7 days. Air-filled balloons generally last for a couple of weeks, but will not float.

Standard size latex filled helium balloons stay afloat for approx 8 – 12 hours, whereas helium filled balloons float for 2-5 days.

2 months

Party City can fill latex and Mylar balloons. You can buy balloons and have them filled at your nearest Party City, purchase balloons on Party City’s website and bring them to your nearest store to be filled, or bring in balloons you purchased elsewhere to be filled.

Dollar Tree sells helium-filled balloons for just $1 each. It’s even more uplifting because the price includes those usually expensive foil balloons, too! If you go to any party store or gift shop, a regular foil balloon can cost around $5.

Helium filled latex balloons only float well for about 10 to 12 hours. If you want to do your helium-filled arch the night before the event, I highly recommend you treat your balloons with hi-float. If you are planning to do an air-filled arch, then it’s fine to create the arch the day before.

Spray the balloons with a mist of any hairspray. This interesting technique will help keep the air from escaping the balloons. Once all the balloons have been blown up, you can store them in a large plastic bag until the time for the event. Doing this will help prevent the balloons from being half-deflated and droopy.

Balloons with air generally don’t deflate overnight. Helium is a notorious escape artist and you can expect a helium balloon to deflate overnight, depending on the type of balloon and its size. The latex balloons are the fastest deflating with either air or helium; but helium ultimately escapes the fastest.

Generally speaking, yes, your helium balloons will last overnight, but they may not last long enough to have an event the next day. This is true for latex balloons, but the foil balloons will definitely last for a few days. the material of the balloon (latex vs foil) whether the balloon is treated with Hi-Float.

50-45 degrees

All is not lost! The same amount of helium still resides inside of your cold, “deflated” balloons. Just bring the balloons inside to a warmer place and the helium molecules will again loosen up and expand as they regain energy. You’ll have your full, floating balloons back in no time.

Do helium balloons last longer in heat or cold? Answer: They don’t. Yes, it’s true that your helium balloon may have shriveled up and is now resting on the cold floor instead of floating in the air.

Keep the balloon in a dark place at a fairly constant cool temperature – understairs cupboard or the garage would be ideal if you’ve got one. DO NOT put them in a warm or light place. Osmosis and leakage will only occur faster. You can’t completely stop osmosis – it works at atomic/molecular level.

HAIR SPRAY Hair spray on the outside of the balloon will make it last a long time but don’t touch it or it shrivels. Hairspray actually helps keep the air in longer by sealing the balloon.