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Ok, so you’ve got all these beautiful balloons but how do you store your balloons? You want to be able to see them so you can put your hands on the ones you want without wasting time looking for them and you don’t want all the money you spent on balloons to be a waste because your balloons go bad. Wait, did she just say balloons go bad? Yes, balloons go bad! They have a shelf life, and they expire. Whatever you want to call it, just like everything else, they will pass a point where they aren’t as good as they used to be. With a little preparation, we can preserve your balloon investment.
High quality latex balloons (if stored properly) can last up to two years after being manufactured. For more information about top balloon brands used by professionals, check out my post An Immersive Look At Top Balloon Brands – Part 1 here.
High quality latex balloons (if stored properly) can last up to two years after being manufactured.
How Should Balloons Be Stored
Balloons should be kept away from heat and direct sunlight. Balloons should be kept cool or even cold and dry. Did you know you can refrigerate balloons or even put them in the freezer? If you choose to go this route balloons can be kept for significantly longer periods (we are talking years) of time but you should always allow balloons to return to room temperature before inflating. For more specifics on how to store your balloons, first, we need to ask a few questions…
Keep balloons away from heat, light, and air. Balloons should also be kept dry.
How Much Space Do You Have?
Do you have a shop dedicated to your craft or are you trying to start a balloon business from home? Do you have a closet you can spare or just a Rubbermaid container? Once you determine how much space you have the next thing to think about is how many balloons you need to store.
How Many Balloons Do You Need To Store?
Do you have every color under the sun in every size imaginable? Or do you have a handful of colors in a few sizes? Or somewhere in between?
When I first started out as a balloon decorator, I only bought balloons for the jobs I got (and some for practice). I stored each balloon job in a container and on the day of the event I just took the container with me.
This worked really well for me until I started getting more jobs and bigger jobs.
How Fast (Or Slow) Do You Typically Go Through Balloons?
Are you a balloon twister with a different gig every weekend and you struggle to keep enough balloons on hand? Or are you an occasional decorator with only a few gigs each year?
I have had balloons kept in a cool, dark environment and had them last several years. On the other hand, I have had balloons that were in the dark but got too warm and melted together in a matter of months.
Another major point and I can’t stress this enough, it doesn’t matter how you store balloons if you start with a less than stellar quality of balloons. Not all balloons are created equal! Not all balloons are made with quality materials! Know the balloons you are using. Again, check out my post An Immersive Look At Top Balloon Brands – Part 1 here.
After I Had Been In Business For A Bit
After I had been in business for a bit, I had an entire office in my house dedicated to balloons. I went through balloons fairly quickly and I had bookcases full of balloons. I used clear canisters from the dollar tree to store my balloons, similar to this picture.
Each balloon type had its own container. I could quickly see what I had, what I was getting low on, and where everything was.
I usually had my colors organized by the colors in the rainbow with a few exceptions; with red first, then orange, yellow, and so on. I had another shelf for black, white, and metallic balloons.
If you looked at a major party store, they store their balloons in open containers (like these), sorted by color and size. They have a lot of balloons and they probably go through them very quickly.
This is an actual picture from a Party City location near me. You will notice they have a picture on the front so they can quickly identify which balloons they have and which balloons they need.
Later In My Balloon Career
Fast forward several years, I started having kids, and an entire office was no longer practical for my balloon business. I downsized to a closet for my most used balloons (still stored in dollar tree containers) and my freezer housed some of my lesser-used balloons in gallon-sized zip-lock bags. This worked well for my situation at the time.
Now
Now, I have a Sterilite box with very few balloons on hand because let’s face it I only have a small RV-sized refrigerator for my food, there just isn’t space for balloons. I place each type of balloon in a quart-sized zip lock bag and I store like types with each other in bigger zip lock bags. Example: All my 11” solid colored balloons in quart bags are then stored in a single 2.5-gallon bag, so I can easily pull out all my similar-sized balloons at once.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to balloon storage and organization. The important thing is to go through the questions above and look at your particular situation. In the video below, she repurposes a dresser to hold all her balloons. This is a great idea and it seems to work for her but it may not work for you.
I hope this post brought value to your day. If it did, please consider sharing with a friend or on your favorite social media. Thanks For Reading Fun With Balloons!