Do you find balloons a turn-on? If so, you're part of a community known as looners. The looner community embraces those who find balloons and inflatables of all shapes, sizes, and materials alluring – even if their fetish includes having a fear of balloons!
So, if you've been thinking about squeaking in a bit of looner time, or your partner has admitted to having a balloon fetish, here's everything you need to know.
For nearly everything in life, there's a fetish. Why do some of us find knives or ropes a turn on? Why do some people feel incredibly gratified by bruises after impact play? Because human sexuality is hugely complex, we cannot explain the birth of certain fetishes.
Being a looner is no exception. Some people with a balloon fetish can trace the origins back to an event, often in childhood, where something happened with a balloon that they found particularly exciting or arousing. For others, though, there's little explanation for their kink.
Furthermore, while some looners may reach orgasm just at the thought of balloon play, others may embrace the 'fun' element more, which leads to excitement and relaxation. As Sarah Melancon, PhD, a sociologist and clinical sexologist, explained to Mashable in 2023: “Some balloon lovers feel their interest isn’t overly sexual but creates strong feelings of excitement, satisfaction and relaxation. Some feel playing with balloons helps reduce stress.”
Indeed, there is no looner playbook. If you have a partner who's expressed an interest in a balloon kink, the most important thing is to encourage them to share exactly how that manifests for them. For example, maybe they want to do the popping, or they'd prefer you to do it. Create a judgment-free environment where they can talk to you about their balloon fetish and what works for them.
There's the rub: often looners love brushing against balloons
You could also encourage them to share any balloon porn they enjoy with you, as visual depictions can be the easiest (and most exciting!) way to find out what gets them hot under the collar.
Indeed, there is plenty of balloon porn out there for the looners amongst us – and the curious. Just typing 'balloon' into PornHub brings up over 1,600 videos, so there's clearly an interest in this niche kink.
“While some looners may reach orgasm at the thought of balloon play, others may embrace the 'fun' element more, which leads to excitement and relaxation.”
You'll find multiple looner scenarios in online balloon porn vids, representing many of the ways those with a balloon kink actually play. Some common scenes include:
You may, with the last example, automatically assume that popping balloons is the orgasm-inducing act that all looners get off on, but as you'll discover, it's not always a case of 'once you pop, you can't stop'.
No! In fact, for some looners, popping the balloons is an absolute no-no. These kinksters are called 'non-poppers'. Then, naturally, there are the 'poppers', and then those who like a bit of both – these are known as 'semi-poppers'.
Looners who aren't into the balloons popping are commonly known as non-poppers. They may enjoy rubbing their skin against a balloon or inflatable, laying on them, sitting on them, etc. Some non-poppers also love watching balloons or inflatables being blown up or having them blown up near them but are not turned on by the popping aspect of balloon play; they may even find it disappointing if they pop.
Blow job? Some looners get off on blowing up and riding balloons
This one is fairly obvious. Looners who are poppers live for balloons popping. They find the act of the pop, the noise, and often the jumpiness both exciting and arousing. Some poppers with a balloon fetish can even climax from it.
“Looners who aren't into the balloons popping are known as non-poppers. They may enjoy rubbing their skin against a balloon or sitting on them.”
There are also subgroups within the 'poppers' community, such as those who love to 'blow to pop' (b2p) – when someone blows up a balloon until it bursts – or 'sit to pop' – looners who get off on themselves or others sitting or lying on balloons until they pop. There are many elements to 'sit to pop' looning, such as bare butt cheeks on a balloon, squeezing them between thighs, or trampling on them.
Semi-poppers are the switches of the looner world. Sometimes, they like balloons to pop, and other times, they don't. Indeed, there are also grey areas within semi-popping, as with any fetish.
If you're new to exploring a balloon fetish and want to try it out, you can buy balloons from a supermarket or party shop. However, these types of balloons usually do not have the structural integrity to withstand a lot of play, often bursting very quickly. So, you can try specialist online balloon shops; in fact, some looners have even turned their kink into a business, selling a wide variety of balloons and inflatables.
There are still stigmas attached to many fetishes, looners included. The taboo surrounding balloon fetishes are often due to a lack of knowledge and understanding about this particular kink. Just as people get a rush of adrenalin from spanking or being tied up, playing with balloons can create similar responses in many kinksters. There is no 'normal' in human sexuality, and having a balloon fetish is just another fun and playful way to get off, so enjoy the party! •
Molly is a BDSM enthusiast and writer of 'Molly's BDSM tips' on Fetish.com. If you want Molly to help you out with a kink-related issue, contact her via her profile.
Want to know more about balloon fetishes and looners? Read more in our balloon fetish forum thread.
Images shutterstock/Bee Bonnet, shutterstock/Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB, shutterstock/mikeforeniakowski
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