Where can I buy / Hire Helium

A question about : Where can I buy / Hire Helium

I bought lots of balloons for my daughters birthday. we are having a house party and want to decorate a bit. Does anyone know where i can buy helium to fill them or even anywhere that would do it for you. I would have around 15 usual size balloons and three of the bigger foil ones ?
Also any idea of price ?
Many thanks

Best answers:

• Hi not too sure about the price but you can get the canisters on ebay also card shops that sell helium balloons sell it.
• Have a look in Birthdays stores, they used to do the helium canister, though they normally supply the balloons as part of it
• I was asda at the weekend and they where selling the canisters Ј17.00 down from Ј24.99 i live in bradford but i think all asda's sell the helium.
  hope it helps,also the big craft shop hobi craft sister in law got her's from there but it wasn't cheap.
• Balloons need to be helium quality. Hobbycraft charge 49p per balloon plus the cost of the balloons and you take a duvet cover to put them in. Asda foil balloons start at £1.37 each including helium
• Macro used to do it as far as I remember, you get the balloons in the box. Hubby is going there this week if you want me to get him to check just give me a shout.
• There is a place in Ballymena where you can hire it.
• I used to run a businness where we often needed ballons filled with helium for different celebrations.
  We always used our local florist to blow up balloons we supplied, don't know what she charged but it certainly wasn't much. (possibly wouldn't bother them around the 14th if you decide to go this route).
• Not from experience, but I have heard that alot of the canisters of helium you buy have very low helium content. This means that the baloons will only float for a few hours and will typically sink to the floor by the following morning.
  This may not be a problem unless you plan to give them to children who might play with them for some time.
• Hi Belfastgal,
  I run a balloon business and can fill balloons with helium for you, drop me a PM and i'll give you contact details.
  If you are only looking for a few filled you have a few options
  Party shops (check the Yellow pages under Balloons - Party and Promotional I have an add in there)
  Florists
  Birthdays etc
  Disposable Cylinders (I really don't like these, I've heard so many bad stories about them)
  Someone said about balloons being of helium quality, they are all made to helium quality but some are better made than others but be carefull that if the balloons are printed with a design that they are 'neck down' and not 'neck up' or they will be upside down when floating.
  There was also a comment about cylinders having a low helium content causing balloons to stop floating after a time, again this isn't correct. The gas in the cylinders will be Balloon Gas which is about 97% pure helium I believe. Latex balloons are porus to helium and it will escape out of the balloon so after a day the helium will have escaped so much that there isn't enough left to hold the balloon up. For them to last a day i'm assuming that the balloons are a reasonable quality and of about 10" to 11" in size, smaller last much less and larger will last longer. There are additives that can be added to balloons which will allow them to float much longer than normal, you'll only be able to get this from some of the professional balloon artists.
  Of course you have probably already had the party and I'm too late with this info, in which case I hope you had a good time.
  Good Luck
  Jim
• hi
  I am looking to open a shop and wondered if anyone knows if I would need special insurance.
• Am I the only one who is curious as to how you hire helium? When you're finished with the balloons do the shops take it back and refill their cylinder???
  Only kidding, but it is a funny image!