How does the confetti stick to confetti balloons?

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Suppose... you have seen beautiful transparent confetti balloons on the internet where the confetti sticks neatly to the inside of the balloon and you think 'I want that for my party too!'. You order transparent balloons and confetti and on the day of the party you put the confetti in the balloon, fill it with air or helium and all the confetti sinks to the bottom of the balloon :-( What a deception! Completely different from the picture.

The magic of Static Electricity

The confetti sticks to the inside of the balloon due to static electricity. Rub the outside of the balloon with a cloth to make the balloon static and you will see that the confetti sticks. You can also rub the balloon against your shirt or sweater or even over your hair if the cloth doesn't quite work.

Confetti Balloon with Helium or Air

The static electricity trick works much better when the balloon is filled with air than when it is filled with helium. In the photo above you don't even see any confetti on the bottom of the air-filled confetti balloon, while you can see the helium-filled one. If you want to make the confetti balloon float, you will have to fill it with helium. Please note that the floating time is somewhat shorter than with normal balloons because the confetti naturally has a certain weight.

Proceed with caution

In general, you should never inflate a balloon with your mouth, but this applies even more so to confetti balloons. The confetti may not be sharp, but the swirl in the balloon can cause it to pop faster than normal. Fill the balloon slowly and do not put too much air or helium at once. When the balloon pops your whole house is full of confetti and that doesn't make you happy ;-).

Do not use HI-FLOAT

Hi-Float is an invisible substance that you knead on the inside of a balloon to make it last longer let it float. This layer allows the helium to leave the balloon more slowly. The Hi-Float ensures that the confetti certainly sticks to the balloon, but it does not make the confetti balloon any prettier. You're bound to get dirty fingers and you can still see it in the balloon. The confetti also sticks together and all of that certainly does NOT make it a beautiful confetti balloon.