Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

[Fred]

If there is a way I would love to know because I hate the bang

[SusieDK]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

Hi Fred,

The only way I know of to make a balloon pop quitly is to fill it with water (or some other harmless liquid) instead of air. This way the balloon hardly makes any sound when it pops.

In case you fill the balloon with air (or any other gas), it is - as far as I know - practically impossible to pop it quietly.
You can get the air out in various ways without the balloon making a bang, but that would be more like deflating it than popping it. You can also use various means to muffle the sound, but the balloon will still pop with a bang; you just don't hear it so clearly. The only thing I can think of would be to inflate the balloon very little - only one or maybe two blows - then there will only be little noise when you pop it - for example with a pin.

However under normal circumstances popping a balloon without the balloon going POP! isn't really possible I think.

You can try to get used to the bang instead though, - maybe starting to pop only very little inflated balloons and then moving on to more and more inflated ones. This just might help you along.

Sincerely
Susie

[John225]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

It might also be a matter of other people. Like with me I have neighbors beside me, above me, and below me and so popping a ton of balloons probably would be a bad idea

[LoudPopper]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

I agree with Susie. Hi Susie ~lol~! First, let's think about how balloons pop, or "why" they pop better yet. NERD ALERT: I'm no physics expert, but I am educated and fluent in the sciences so bare with me. I believe there is one expert, or maybe an engineer who knows more about this on this board, if so please chime in and/or correct me if necessary. Sorry in advance for the long post, but I get super excited by such nerdy things.

The reason that the balloon pops is because of the actual motion of the latex as is snaps back into it's original state after it has been expanded. Before a balloon pops, and it is inflated, the latex material has been stretched, storing potential energy. When the latex breaks, the material returns to its original shape, releasing that potential energy and converting it into kinetic energy. As contraction of the latex completes, the remainder of the kinetic energy at very edges of the material still has to be released. If there is any remaining energy that is stored at the tip of contracted latex shards once fully contracted, because energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted due to Newton's law of conservation of energy-- paraphrased, it too must be converted. Which it is, by rapidly moving the air molecules around the latex at supersonic speeds. Since air is really a fluid, this rapid movement of air molecules creates air pressure waves, like when dropping a pebble into a pond and observing the ripples. These pressure waves, when interpreted by our eardrums are better known as sound. This latex rapidly snapping back into shape at supersonic speeds, exactly like cracking a whip, creates tiny "sonic booms". Thus the popping sound.

So back to the question: how do you reduce the popping sound? It now becomes a question of pragmatism. I don't know if I know ALL methods, but here's the ways that I can think of: 1) reduce the number of lated shards snapping back, 2) slow down the contraction of the shards, 3) reduce the amount of air pressure/sound waves reaching yours or other's eardrums, 4) limit the amount of air molecules that can be moved, 5) reduce the ability of the sound waves to be propagated, reflected, amplified by hitting hard surfaces. Some of these are from experience, some of them I've read, but let's go through the solutions 1 by 1.

1: Reduce shards-- bigger balloons (talking typically above 36") and "softer" balloons made up of more pure latex (Cattex, Everts, Mexico/Unique), tend to break apart into larger (thus fewer) pieces. They make more of a deeper "FOOM" instead of "BOOM" sound, usually devoid of a subsequent "cracking" noise to boot. Also, old/stale/oxidized balloons in which the latex has broken down do this as well.

2. Slow Contraction-- If the latex has less energy when fully snapped back in place, the change in air pressure is reduced. You can do this by filling the balloon with less air, bc latex is less stretched and therefore has less energy, as SusieDK has pointed out. Popping balloons by methods that don't result in the acceleration of the latex stretching before bursting are quieter (e.g., pins, nails, lighters, humping/riding (where your body absorbs the sound)). Stepping and blow-to-pop (BTP)/electric inflator are usually the loudest btw. Or the coat inside or outside of the balloon in a viscous/thick/heavy substance that physically makes the latex less elastic or interferes with the movement of the latex. Filling with water, like Susie says, works. Try Vaseline or Oil (olive/vegetable), but note oil causes the latex to rapidly decompose and it may spontaneously pop, albiet WAY WAY quieter. In my opinion vaseline coated loons, although fragile and messy, are a SUPER FUN and quiet method to squeeze against yourself or grind/ride and provide great self-stimulation.

3: Reduce # sound waves-- Popping in a contained space such as in a small room, underwater, or under bed sheets or comforters, against thick clothes, allows fewer sound waves to move through the air and ultimately to your ears.

4: See above

5: Reduce sound propagation-- hard surfaces and large open spaces (bound by hard surfaces) drastically amplify sound. They say one of the loudest places for balloon pops are inside tunnels, against a wall in an open field, inside big drain pipes, or 7/8 way up inside a concrete stairwell. The key is to find the opposite popping environment or interfere the sound wave pattern moving through the air. Turning on loud or powerful fans outside your room chops up the air and breaks apart the popping sound wave. A good place is inside a car b/c the small space and padded interior will absorb a lot of sound. You can affix thick blankets or egg cartons, cardboard drink trays (which has lots of surface area) to the walls of your room to absorb sound. These in particular are super effective at preventing others outside the room from hearing if you live in an apartment or with roommates. Or return back to #3, with thick bed covers, clothes, which are materials that absorb rather than reflect sound waves.

Or you can combine the above methods. Growing up, although I still wanted to pop balloons but couldn't the way I wanted to because I lived w/ my parents. I used to ride/humping vaseline coated balloons under my bed covers. Although I've been caught a number of times playing with balloons (ridiculous, funny, and/or embarrassing stories btw) I was never caught this way. As always, thanks for everyone's patience-- I know I write a lot :-/ . Happy looning, folks!

[LoudPopper]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

Hey Fred, I meant to ask you kinda based on soemthing I asked earler? Have you started to be able to identify what it is that you like about balloons, or got an idea of what you wanna try with them? I could be wrong, but it seems to me like you're actually "okay" with a balloon popping, correct? Is is like when you are playing with balloons you accept that the balloon might break, or you may even want it to? Is there a particular reason that you don't like the popping sound? Does it scare you? Is it like nails on a chalkboard? Because yeah if that's the case, I was thinking about the last thing that Susie said... the only other way for a balloon to pop "quietly" is for it to you to perceive it as "quieter". In otherwords get used to balloons popping.

I personally used to be absolutely TERRIFIED about the popping sound, and now it's absolutely one of my most favorite part about balloons. It took a lot of practice and getting used to but it's very possible. If you look around in the Poppers section of this board you can find a bunch of threads with people who wanted to learn how to get over the sound. There's a lot of people who aren't exactly poppers or non-poppers who kinda enjoy balloons popping but don't want to deal with the sound. Some of them use ear protection and choose not to address getting over it, which is absolutely no problem. But there are others as you see want to become more "brave" (not assuming you're scared) with popping or want to just learn how to enjoy it more. There's lots of methods that people have suggested in the forums.

For me, I started out by deliberately popping smaller (5-7") loons with my ears closed. The more I watched myself pop them, the more in control I felt and the less scary the act became. Eventually, I felt confident enough to do it while not protecting my ears. Then I graduated to bigger underinflated loons. Did the same thing, protecting my ears and then not. Wash, rinse, repeat with bigger and tighter loons and started popping with new methods. Eventually, I went from absolutely hating, to loving the pop. But the thing about it was that it was all about control for me. The unpredictability was what was scary, as well as the loudness. When I got the unpredictable nature of balloons under control by knowing it was me popping them, the loudness became more tolerable.

To this day, I'm definitely not fearless about popping. As much as I want the balloon to explode, and as much as I desire as loud of a bang as possible, I'm still anxious. But it's my relationship to my anxiety that has changed. And it can for you too. Now it's actually something that I also appreciate because the fear results in a "rush" and a goal that I can overcome. So I feel proud and confident and happy when the balloon pops. Either way, enjoy your balloons. Just some food for thought.

[Casey88]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

I'm assuming you want to get rid of a filled balloon then the only way to "pop" it quietly is to cut off the neck/knot with a scissor. I do this most of the time and no loud noise guaranteed.

[EthylTheAardvark]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

To some extent you can muffle the pop under covers or a pillow. Sometimes that works pretty well, sometimes it doesn't. If I ever have enough space, I'd be tempted to try building a sound muffling room with egg cartons.

[Seasidelad]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

You can place cellatape over an area then pin pop the balloon deflates slowly. I suppose you can ear protection but depends whether others are around and they would still it pop.

Water filling instead of air is probably the best but if it is already air filled and tightly knotted this wouldn’t be an option.

[OverTheTop]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

3: Reduce # sound waves-- Popping in a contained space such as in a small room, underwater, or under bed sheets or comforters, against thick clothes, allows fewer sound waves to move through the air and ultimately to your ears.

A small space will actually make things worse: The sound waves will bounce against the surfaces and only make it louder. Fabric or other soft materials will help though.

[Slugamano]

Re: Is there a way to pop balloons quietly

The purpose for the balloons is being popped, as loud as possible :-).