A serious Essential Tremor took me out of magic and balloon-twisting for a number of years. Now, having recently had a form of non-invasive brain surgery, my ET is gone for now, and I'm back twisting again.

But...whoa! Qualatex is gone?

So what does one do in the US for the next-best thing? Would that be Sempertex? And has anything replaced the glorious luster of the Qualatex Chrome line?

Thanks for any direction.

Josh

When I found Ballooning was too much to deal with, I learned to Cartoon - sketch-pad - asked ANY ANIMAL You Like ?- then drew my character version of it- at the bottom was my ad. Child would take it home - mother would put it on the 'fridge'. When their Birthday came up - I'd get a call. MANY CALLS

Hi Josh,

I'm in Canada, and buy my 260 balloons from Bargain Balloons (they have both a US website and a Canadian website).

When I couldn't get Qualitex Balloons, I first tried some Decomex (my order from Bargain Balloons in 2024). I had problems with some popping, as I was twisting. They would inflate too fat near the nozzle end, not evenly.

A couple of months ago (my order from Bargain Balloons in 2025), this time I bought Sempertex. I'm much happier with their quality. Oh, and they also had Gold and Silver (called Reflex Silver, Reflex Gold), as well as the normal colours and neon colours.

- Donald

I'm also using Sempertex and they seem to be pretty good.

I now use Sempertex too. Good quality. Rarely burst. The colors don't seem quite as vibrant as Qualatex, but that may be misleading and the colors are still beautiful.

I was thinking of getting back into this. Qualatex is gone? Can you recommend any other brands for uk?

There's a fellow named Graham Lee who posts about balloon twisting in the Trix Convention Facebook Group.

I'd recommend reaching out to him, for balloon twisting info specific to the UK. He seems to talk about both Qualitex and Sempertex in his posts / on his dealer website, so I'm not sure if he has connections for old Qualitex stock or what?

https://balloonartwholesale.co.uk/

https://www.balloonchat.co.uk/

https://theballoonartistesguild.co.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/@balloontube999

- Donald