A note from Johnny Mulder, owner of Arizona Balloon Company. We’ve been manufacturing polyurethane helium giant balloons in Glendale, Arizona since 1979. This page is what I tell customers when they call about giant balloons, longer than a brochure because the right size, shape, and material decisions save thousands of dollars in helium over the lifetime of the balloon.
What a giant balloon is and what it isn’t
A giant balloon — the kind I make — is a sealed polyurethane sphere or shape filled with helium and tethered above your business or event. Sizes from 4.5 feet up to 14 feet in diameter are routine. Custom shapes (hearts, stars, animals, product replicas) are fine but cost more and take longer.
What it isn’t: a cold-air inflatable. Those are the 25-foot Kong gorillas, T-Rexes, snowmen, and bunnies you’ve seen at car lots — they run on a constant blower instead of helium and serve a different purpose. If that’s what you want, look at our advertising inflatables page. The rest of this page is about helium balloons only.
Pricing (current as of May 2026)
Call 1-800-791-1445 for the current quote on artwork, lettering, or volume orders. Base prices below are for solid-color spheres without artwork.
| Diameter | Base price | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5 ft | $292 | Booth toppers, indoor displays where ceiling height is tight |
| 5.5 ft | $350 | Storefront entrances, small lots |
| 7 ft | $449 | The size I sell most for general advertising |
| 8 ft | $628 | Auto dealers, larger storefronts, banner-attached versions |
| 10 ft | $824 | Maximum impact for events and grand openings |
One purchase, used for years. The reason that math works is what the next section is about.
The helium math nobody else tells you
Helium isn’t free. Cylinder prices have climbed steadily for a decade and the per-fill cost is what determines whether a giant balloon pays for itself or becomes an expensive headache. Two numbers tell the whole story:
The smallest PVC giant balloon that will fly even reasonably well in a breeze is a 20-foot model. It requires roughly 600 cubic feet of helium per fill. Our 13-foot polyurethane blimp — comparable visibility, better flight stability in higher winds — uses 170 cubic feet. That’s the comparison that matters: visibility per cubic foot of helium. Polyurethane wins, and it isn’t close.
For round giant balloons specifically, the math is similar in shape if not in scale. Polyurethane retains helium long enough that a single fill lasts weeks, not the day or two you get out of latex. Over a typical campaign — three to five weekend deployments — you’ll use roughly half the cumulative helium of a comparable latex or PVC balloon.
Why I build in polyurethane and won’t sell you PVC or latex
PVC giant balloons are cheap to manufacture, which is why most imported balloons online use it. PVC is heavier per square foot than polyurethane, which means it needs more helium just to lift the envelope, and the wall is porous enough that helium escapes through the material itself — no pinhole leak required. PVC also off-gases plasticizers and degrades in UV faster than polyurethane. None of that is theoretical; it’s why we stopped working with PVC decades ago.
Latex balloons (the kind you find in big-box party stores) are useful for two-hour events. They lose helium fast — visibly deflating within 24 hours, often sooner in heat — and they’re not designed to be reused. If you’re planning a wedding ceremony and want a 5-foot white balloon for a single afternoon, latex from a party store is fine. I’ll tell you that on the phone. But for advertising — anything that needs to look sharp Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon and the next weekend too — latex doesn’t make economic sense.
The detail that decides whether you keep using it
Most cheap giant balloons use a knot or a rubber band closure. That works once. After your first deployment you cut the knot to deflate, and now you have a balloon you can’t reseal without replacing the closure. People stop using these balloons because the closure dies before the envelope does.
Every balloon I ship has an easy-open plug — push to seal, pull to release. The same balloon can go through hundreds of inflate/deflate cycles. That’s the small thing that makes the difference between “I bought a balloon once” and “I’ve been running this balloon for five years.” The Auto Sale blimp I keep mentioning on other pages of this site? Same closure system. Five years on the same hardware.
Who I’ve made giant balloons for
A handful of customers I’m willing to name on this page: Showcase Honda runs giant balloons over their lot for weekend promotions. Balloon Adventures uses ours for their commercial events. Auto Air & Electric has used giant balloons as visibility markers for their service location. Beyond those: NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the U.S. Navy, Arizona State University, and the National Institutes of Health have ordered specialty balloons from us for projects where a tethered aerostat was the right tool. Most of those orders weren’t standard giant balloons, but the manufacturing process is the same.
The pattern across all of them: standard sphere in the customer’s brand color, sometimes with a vertical banner attached for legibility from a longer distance. The 7-foot is the size I recommend most often. Big enough to read from across a parking lot, small enough that helium refills don’t bankrupt the campaign.
What I won’t sell you
If you’re calling about a giant balloon for an indoor venue with a 12-foot ceiling, I’m going to talk you out of the 8-foot. The math doesn’t work — the balloon needs vertical space above it for the tether and clearance, and an 8-foot sphere in a 12-foot room reads as “thing pressed against the ceiling,” not “controlled aerial display.” For tight indoor venues, 4.5 or 5.5 feet is usually right.
If you’re trying to make a Halloween decoration, a Christmas display, or a one-day promotional stunt that doesn’t need to fly again, I’m going to tell you that latex or a rented cold-air inflatable will probably serve you better than a polyurethane purchase. The reusability premium only pays back if you’re going to reuse the balloon. I’d rather lose the sale than sell you a tool you don’t need.
Custom shapes
Hearts, stars, custom logos as 3D shapes — we make these in our shop in Glendale. The 8-foot star pictured here runs about $580. Custom shapes typically take 4–6 weeks to produce because we build the pattern from scratch each time. If you’ve got a date on the calendar, call earlier rather than later.
Frequently asked questions
How long do giant polyurethane balloons last?
With reasonable care — stored clean and dry, out of direct sun, away from sharp edges — multiple years through repeat deployments. Five-year service on the same envelope is realistic. The closure plug is the part most likely to need replacement first; the polyurethane itself outlasts most expectations.
What’s the warranty?
Every balloon and blimp we ship is warrantied for one year against workmanship defects and two years against material defects. If something fails inside those windows because of how we built it or what we built it from, that’s on us.
Do I need a permit?
Tethered, kept under 150 feet, and properly secured, giant balloons typically don’t require FAA approval. Local ordinances and HOA rules are the things that catch people. Scottsdale and Maricopa have ordinances I’ve seen catch builders by surprise. Call me before you set up in those markets and I’ll tell you what I’ve seen work.
Can I rent one for a single weekend?
Yes — for one-time events or to test the format before committing to a purchase. Polyurethane construction is the reason we can quote profitable rentals where competitors can’t.
What artwork files do you need for custom branding?
Vector files (AI, EPS, PDF) reproduce best. High-resolution raster (PNG, JPEG, TIFF at 300+ DPI) works if vector isn’t available. Send what you have and we’ll tell you what we can do with it.
What to do next
Call me at 1-800-791-1445 or email sales@arizonaballoon.com with three things: the size of the space you want the balloon to be visible from, the artwork or color you want, and your first deployment date. I’ll quote a real price, a real lead time, and tell you straight whether the 7-foot is the right call or whether you should size up. If you want maximum visibility for the least helium, ask me about the polyurethane blimps too — different shape, very different math.
— Johnny Mulder, Arizona Balloon Company, Glendale, Arizona. Manufacturing polyurethane helium giant balloons in the U.S.A. since 1979.