Advice on blow to pop a Q16?

[blfun98]

I dream of shredding to thousands confetti a Q16 since I never managed to actually do it. I was able to blow to pop some, but feels like they exploded more because of other causes rather than the pressure, since they always exploded in 2 to 3 pieces. I managed to shred to confetti cheap store bought, standard size balloons.
Today I tried blowing to pop a Q16, starting from a non-pre-stretched light-blue one and after trying for almost 20 minutes, the balloon was huge, but stayed the same, and while I tried to put more air, It felt more air was coming out than getting inside. Then my thumb and index started to hurt due to holding firmly the nozzle, I was tired and gave up. I did not stretch the balloon before. What's your best technique to blow to pop a balloon? Do I need to overinflate, deflate it and then blow it again? I think holding nozzle in your mouth, might be the explanation, since I see a lot of models doing it in videos, but I really cant. Do you have any advice?

tl;dr a Q16 defeated me on a b2p challenge, how do I win? : D

[Kitten]

Biting the mouthpiece, or holding the neck and pushing your lips against it works. Q16s don't have much to hold onto really. If you're pushing your mouth against the mouthpiece, it might sting a little when it bursts, but I like that myself. Otherwise they pop easier if they've been blown up before. They still pop into lots of stringy pieces too.

[yet_another_aussie]

Have you tried holding the neck with both hands in a firm cup grip too? You can get any balloon to shred on first inflation if the pressure is kept up with hand strength and the pop occurs during an exhale

[Casey88]

You can check out Blown2Bits Youtube channel, he does quite some b2ps on Q16

Qualatex 16s does not have much of a neck, hence it is not easy to B2P them compared to TT17s, Belbal 14s etc

[srob2]

20 minutes? You must have chickened out. You should have been about to do it in 2. I've had 9 inch balloons I couldn't pop and couldn't blow any more air into and gave up, but never anything larger. Sometimes it helps to let some air out to get a better hold on the mouth piece - if a balloon is completely inflated it is hard to put more air in.

[blfun98]

20 minutes? You must have chickened out. You should have been about to do it in 2. I've had 9 inch balloons I couldn't pop and couldn't blow any more air into and gave up, but never anything larger. Sometimes it helps to let some air out to get a better hold on the mouth piece - if a balloon is completely inflated it is hard to put more air in.

The thing is, the balloon was huge and thight and it was hard to put hair inside,I was trying to let some air out to hold the mouthpiece better, but then when I puffed the neck and the mouthpiece inflated again and it was hard to put more air, then I tried to let some air and again and again. Anyway will be trying all your advice in a session next week, thanks ; )

[blfun98]

Since I had some time available for a session today, I picked up a light blue ballooon, tried again a b2p, with the same kind of light blue Q16, this time I inflated and deflated and stretched it three times. I tried everything, to keep it in my mouth, to hold it with a single hand, both hands, trying to form all kind of shapes with the nozzle, all I got was the nozzle slipping away from my hand constantly, then, tried holding it again in my mouth this thime with teeth, all I got was a balloon with a ripped off nozzle lol. So I was forced to pinch the nozzle with my hand, and pop it with a pin. I probably had to deflate and stretch it more and more times to succeed, but this time I failed again. This is weird since I perfectly remember that when I got this batch on Winter 2022, I remember that I had blown to pop a yellow and a red one easily. Might this be because of the hot temperature, or the specific color of the balloon or other variables? Anyway I'm still not done, will try with a same colored one on the next session when I have more time. That day I will definitely try to inflate and stretch it a shitload of time so it won't have a chance surviving my lungs ;D (and even if it will, the needle is waiting)

[BalloonblowerNYC]

A balloon decorator would see this as a quality example for Qualatex 16". They do not pop while inflating, they get from the pump first as the nozzle gets pushed away. For decorators this is vital as they do not like the accidental popping, not all of them are looners ;-)

[blfun98]

Yeah I agree that the quality standard is very high

[lucid]

That's always been my problem with Q16's. They can get pretty big, but then you literally have nothing left to tie off with. The most effective way we've found to btp them is to get a valve and rubber band the balloon to the valve, super tight. Right up against the actual mouthpiece of the balloon. Without strapping the balloon onto the valve, it will just fly off the valve. It's also possible to do one without a valve. You've just got to squeeze the air from the neck into the main part with your hands as you're blowing. It can be pretty strenuous honestly.

[blfun98]

Thanks for the advice, good thing to know that's not just me having a problem with this. What valve do you advice, and where can I get one? =D

[lucid]

What valve do you advice, and where can I get one? =D

I've had the one I use since forever ago. I forgot where I got it from, but I believe it was from Kabooms old website. It's been defunct for some time now unfortunately. It was awesome tho. I have seen valves in other online stores that cater specifically to looners. Just check in there. Or, if you're handy you could always make one. Probably a better one than you could buy honestly.

[blfun98]

I think I now understand what I was doing wrong, I was stretching the neck of balloons too much. I noticed that when I stretch the neck a lot, putting more air in the balloon instead of making the balloon stiffer, bulges the neck which becomes very hard to inflate.
The latest pops I did were easier since I stretched the body of the balloon way more than the neck, that I stretched just a bit, and it in fact exploded with just the right amount of puffs, and in more than 4 shards.
By the way, is there a similar balloon brand or type, or a way to pop that makes more confetti like shards?

[Casey88]

Kalisan 18" chromes should explode with more shards