Can I stuff balloons with a 6-8kg object and get them to float?

Hi,
I'm interested in stuffing balloons with gifts and have had a look at the Keepsake Stuffer. Its a great product however the balloons need to be in different sizes and should be inflated with helium.

Where would I find a balloon that can hold a 6-8kg object and yet still float (helium filled) and not burst when the object inside moves about?

Could you provide some suggestions?

Giant Stuffed Balloons: How to Make Them

Hi there! What an interesting question.

You would need a pretty big balloon to lift a 6-8 kg object. One cubic foot of helium will lift about 28.2 grams.

A 6 foot (72 inches or 1.8 m) diameter balloon has a lifting capacity of 7.1 pounds (3.2 kg), a 12 foot (144 inches or 3.65 m) diameter balloon a lifting capacity of 57 pounds (25.9 kg).

HowStuffWorks.com shows the formula to calculate the lifting power of helium balloons.

Large balloons or blimps used for advertising are often made of Polyurethane or PVC. This is probably the material you should be looking at if you want to make sure that the balloon does not burst when the object moves around.

Polyurethane is the better material as it weighs a lot less than PVC, yet is super strong. The downside is that it's more expensive than balloons made of PVC.

ArizonaBalloon.com for example sells those large helium balloons made of polyurethane.

You could also experiment with a giant, 72 inch latex balloon (the image below shows an example product from Amazon). If you inflate it fully with high quality helium, it might be able to lift a 5 kg object.



Lastly, in terms of stuffing balloons, check out our page about stuffed balloons. You might find some useful tips there.

And here's my review of different balloon stuffing machines, including the Keepsake Stuffer that you mentioned.

Hope that helps! Would love to see a picture of you giant floating stuffed balloon.

Margit