Alright, so I had this party coming up. Kids’ birthday. You know what that means: balloons. Loads of ’em. My fingers still remember the last time, felt like I’d been wrestling sandpaper.
Saw this little plastic thing online, called a balloon tyer. Looked like a cheap gimmick, honestly. But my fingers were already having flashbacks, so I figured, what the heck, let’s give it a try. It wasn’t expensive.
Trying the Thing Out
So the day comes, bags of balloons everywhere. Got my pump, got the balloons, and dug out this little plastic gadget. Felt flimsy in my hand. I wasn’t holding out much hope.
Okay, first balloon. Pumped it up. Held the neck. Now what? There weren’t really instructions, just a vague picture on the packet. Looked like you had to stretch the balloon neck around a part of it.
So, I stretched the rubbery neck. Tried to wrap it around this little hook thing on the tyer. It was awkward. The balloon felt like it wanted to escape. Slipped right off the first time.
Let’s try again. Pump up another one. Really stretch that neck this time. Wrap it around the hook, then loop the end bit through a slit. Then you’re supposed to pull it off, and somehow it ties itself. Seemed like wishful thinking.
- Stretch
- Wrap
- Tuck
- Pull
Pulled it off the gadget… and hey! It actually worked! Left a neat little knot. It wasn’t maybe as tight as I’d do by hand, pinching and looping, but it held air. That was the main thing.
Getting the Hang of It
Did another one. Inflate, stretch, wrap, tuck, pull. It worked again. Started getting a bit of a rhythm. Inflate, stretch, wrap, tuck, pull. It wasn’t lightning fast, maybe saved a few seconds per balloon compared to my fumbling fingers, but the big win? No pain.
My thumbs weren’t burning. My fingertips weren’t raw. That alone felt like a major victory. I powered through about fifty balloons using the thing.
It’s funny, you get these gadgets thinking they’ll change your life. Most end up in a drawer. Like that electric can opener I got, takes longer to use than the manual one. This balloon tyer, though? It’s simple. Doesn’t feel like high technology. It’s just a shaped piece of plastic that gives your fingers a break.
Did it feel a bit like cheating? Maybe. There’s that weird pride in doing things the hard way sometimes. But you know what? Forget that. Fifty balloons and my hands felt fine. That’s what matters.
So, yeah. The balloon tyer. It works. It’s not magic, it just makes the knotting part less of a pain. For a big batch of balloons, I’ll definitely dig it out again. For just one or two? Probably faster to just use my fingers still. But for party prep, thumbs up. My fingers agreed.