Right so I have a load of LOL's and despite having played with them and scoured their website I cannot find inflation instructions anywhere.

I tried to make an arch for Rachel's birthday back in the summer for her birthday party using them but I really struggled to get them to float well and had to give up on the idea of using the paw print balloons for clusters between each LOL as they just dragged it down to the floor.  

I am 99.9% certain I was inflating them wrong.  I would like to retry it but but don't really want to waste too many more of them so thought I would ask first.

Hi Yvonne

I've only used link-o-loons once for an arch :oops: but didn't have any trouble as I recall.  I think they're slightly larger than Qualatex (12" I think?) so you'd assume they'll hold more helium than an 11".  The only hint I can see on the website is that for most instructions (of the ones I looked at anyway) it does say fully inflate the 12"... etc etc.  I'd be surprised if there was a specific way to inflate them - there are loads of instructions on making L-o-L arches with no suggestion of a technique for inflation, so I'd doubt you were doing anything wrong.

I guess it's maybe possible that if there are 4 balloon clusters to each 1 perhaps under inflated 12" it may cause pull down on the 12", but I'd only expect that if the 12" was really under inflated.

Sorry it's not much help.  Pam's probably your best bet.

--Neil

So you just inflated them in the same way you would inflate a regular round i.e. until the diameter of the balloon reached 12" (or whatever size it is labelled as)?

I suspect I underinflated them.  I inflated them as to what I thought was right but I think it was less than 12" by quite some way as I don't recall them looking even nearly as large as the 11" rounds.  I'll give that a bash tomorrow and see how I go as I had a lovely Dalmatian arch planned and it all went to pot.  I'll confess that I wasn't using actual 5" rounds for the clusters though I was under-inflating 11" paw prints which may have also contributed to the weighing down since they are heavier and I didn't remove the knots either so I guess it was a bad combo  :roll:

Cheers for the help Neil.

I googled info for the LOL and found this interesting web site. I have used them in bouquets, and they inflate very pear shape when they are super full. I only had one pop on me because I put too much helium in it. They seemed to float well with air filled balloons attached.

I know the pictures are not arches, but you can see the inflation amount, hopefully!

Take care!

Carol

http://www.mninternational.com/Tip_LkLoonBeg_100hr.cfm

Hi Yvonne

I inflate mine to about 10.5 inches (0.9 on my Dss) and inflate the 5" balloons to about 3.5/4" max - as they are air filled if you inflate them too big it will reduce the float time

Pam
xx

So Pam would it make too much difference if I used 11" rounds blown up to about 3.5" for the clusters? The arch I wanted to make was a black & white LOL arch with the paw print balloons forming the clusters but I don't have them in 5".  It seems pretty pointless (even if I can get them in 5") buying a bag of 100 just to use maybe half a bag and not need them for much else as I can't see anyone else wanting them.

Quote from: "YvonneH"It seems pretty pointless (even if I can get them in 5") buying a bag of 100 just to use maybe half a bag and not need them for much else as I can't see anyone else wanting them.

Why don't you add the cost of the bag to your total bill? It's not that much (around £5) and if it means getting the perfect finish I'm sure your client will be happier.

It's not for a client it was for my daughters birthday party last year and I just want to manage it for my own sake!

if you use 11" balloons Yvonne make sure you push the air right up to the top of the balloon - it will go rounder than usual - and cut off all the excess balloon after the knot to reduce the weight dramaticaly, otherwise the weight could reduce the float time..

Also if you are putting the arch close to a wall ( front view only) consider just using 2 balloon duplet rather than a 3 or 4 balloon cluster.. Best advice I can give is to do a practise with any other spare balloon colours you have, so you dont use up the ones you want to use in practise..

Pam
xx

The other thing to think off Yvonne is if you're going to be using half a bag, then half a bag of 11" would be about the same cost as a full bag of 5", again, meaning you'll get the best finish you want if you did buy the 5". Hope that makes sense!!  

You are absolutely right Graeme but at the moment I have so much I want and need to do I am having to prioritise where the money is going so instead of spending £10 on a bag of 5" printed balloons I could just use up the ones I already have and possibly won't use again.  I know it's only £10 but I have so many ideas whizzing around in my head it is insane and they all cost money  

Quote from: "YvonneH"I have so many ideas whizzing around in my head it is insane and they all cost money  

Ohhhh, I know that feeling Yvonne

Hi all,

I can't remember just where I read it, but Link-o-loons are sized in LENGTH, not diameter, (i.e. from where the main round part of the balloon meets the tip) to the knot. I've been having a play with a few Link-o-loons recently, will post some pics at some point.

Cheers,

Steve