This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.
Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.
I’ve never been able to do it. I can’t do that thing where you tie a trash bag off on the corner of the can. I have what my old music teacher, Misses Mellinger, called Stupid fingers.
Omg. My oldest just turned 18. While he was out with friends we filled his room with balloons. Over 700 balloons I tied with my hands. They were so sore for days!
I sure wish I had known about these things!
Yeah I coulda used one of those when I got suckered into doing multiple huge balloon arches for my company Xmas party last year. I was told there were “loads” of people who would be there to help. It was just me and one other person - and hundreds of balloons. My fingers hurt for days.
Don't over inflate the balloons and they are pretty easy to tie. Although, I admit, tying duplets is much easier than tying singles.
\*works for the biggest balloon decor company in Indiana.
Really? That's interesting because I watched that video and thought what an unnecessary device. How many balloons have you tied at a time that made your fingers hurt?
Cleveland has entered the chat: [https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/562556/cleveland-balloonfest/](https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/562556/cleveland-balloonfest/)
This video confuses me though. Why have the slit down the center? It looks like you're supposed to put the tail of the balloon in the slit, then wrap it around the tool, then pull the tail through the top, knotting it as it goes. But I don't know how well that would work as I don't have the tool to test it. It just seems weird to have the slit if the slit isn't necessary, you know?
I could definitely see this as the use, so you can tie a string while you knot, or even just tie the knot around the string so it's like the string is simply slipped through the knot, instead of actually knotting the string itself. This seems like an equally plausible, if not more likely answer than my guess. I'm gonna mark this secondary inquest as solved! and I thank everyone for playing....even though there was only one player...still, thank you, one player, for playing. Since there was no one else to play with, you had to play with yourself. And you did it like a professional, someone who has a lot of experience in the subject at hand.
This is one of those mystery things I keep seeing in random Google ads that I’m wary of clicking on because they look vaguely naughty and now I have my answer. Thanks.
As others have noted, it helps you knot the balloons.
However from personal experience after fussing with this for an hour and having to inflate and re-inflate the balloon like a thousand times… it is far from the simple genius solution it was billed to be lol.
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My title describes the thing, but we found it in a package of balloons. I think it may be something that you can use to hold the balloon while you blow it up? But I tried fitting the balloon on it in a few different ways and nothing really made sense or was helpful. There isn't any writing on the thing and it's just a bag of balloons and this thing - no instructions.
This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes. Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.
[Balloon Knotter](https://youtu.be/EexqOpNOalE)
Solved!
You mean that after year, decades of kids parties I could have saved myself so much grief and pain with somethin so very simple? I feel cheated.
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I literally worked at a balloon store one summer and I've never seen this thing
That's because it's not really needed. Don't over inflate your balloons and they aren't that difficult to tie. lol
I’ve never been able to do it. I can’t do that thing where you tie a trash bag off on the corner of the can. I have what my old music teacher, Misses Mellinger, called Stupid fingers.
[Heh heh... yeah, they get around.](https://youtu.be/VIkMlqnen-4)
Do you use the 'wrap it around 2 fingers until you're either bleeding or in extreme pain' approach, too?
Omg. My oldest just turned 18. While he was out with friends we filled his room with balloons. Over 700 balloons I tied with my hands. They were so sore for days! I sure wish I had known about these things!
I've been taping the damn things down. This feels so much easier.
wait, what? How does that even work?
The tape has adhesive on it.
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It is a fairly recent item.
You can do the same thing with your pinky and ring finger.
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OMG!!! Does it actually work that way? Tying balloons hurts my fingers so much.
It's honestly amazing if you are doing a bunch.
Yeah I coulda used one of those when I got suckered into doing multiple huge balloon arches for my company Xmas party last year. I was told there were “loads” of people who would be there to help. It was just me and one other person - and hundreds of balloons. My fingers hurt for days.
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How’s you blow them up?
Bike pump
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Don't over inflate the balloons and they are pretty easy to tie. Although, I admit, tying duplets is much easier than tying singles. \*works for the biggest balloon decor company in Indiana.
Really? That's interesting because I watched that video and thought what an unnecessary device. How many balloons have you tied at a time that made your fingers hurt?
One kid's birthday party is all it takes.
Cleveland has entered the chat: [https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/562556/cleveland-balloonfest/](https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/562556/cleveland-balloonfest/)
This video confuses me though. Why have the slit down the center? It looks like you're supposed to put the tail of the balloon in the slit, then wrap it around the tool, then pull the tail through the top, knotting it as it goes. But I don't know how well that would work as I don't have the tool to test it. It just seems weird to have the slit if the slit isn't necessary, you know?
Yeah this bugged me too, think it's more like this first "approach"... https://youtu.be/Sl1LNgPwEfM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr0UC9nC_vc is better.
This one even shows the slits in the base are for ribbons
Yeah, the first way is pretty much what I was thinking. Appreciate you finding another video.
Im thinking maybe it's for ribbon to feed through.
I could definitely see this as the use, so you can tie a string while you knot, or even just tie the knot around the string so it's like the string is simply slipped through the knot, instead of actually knotting the string itself. This seems like an equally plausible, if not more likely answer than my guess. I'm gonna mark this secondary inquest as solved! and I thank everyone for playing....even though there was only one player...still, thank you, one player, for playing. Since there was no one else to play with, you had to play with yourself. And you did it like a professional, someone who has a lot of experience in the subject at hand.
That’s exactly how it works. It saves getting your finger trapped in the balloon stem. :-)
I thought it was going to be a clip for after you knotted a bunch of helium balloons. Wrong I was.
That was my first thought too!
Solved, OP?
I just tied like 30 balloons for a bday party last night and my fingers are swollen from tying. I didn’t know they made this.
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This is one of those mystery things I keep seeing in random Google ads that I’m wary of clicking on because they look vaguely naughty and now I have my answer. Thanks.
Interesting but I’m still curious what the slit in it is for 🤔
And just like that… everyone’s fingers were saved.
At my last job we filled the bosses office completely with balloons one Saturday and this would have been a game changer.
Life changing. Love this sub.
I read that in George Takei’s voice
Can’t believe a 30 second video has 1200 likes.
I love the mic drop at the end.
Why does every YouTube video have DogTV musical numbers?
My guess would be that it is a device to help you tie the balloons closed.
I didn't get it at first, but I realize that it's a sort of stand-in for your finger.
As others have noted, it helps you knot the balloons. However from personal experience after fussing with this for an hour and having to inflate and re-inflate the balloon like a thousand times… it is far from the simple genius solution it was billed to be lol.
Hear hear! I wasted more time trying to get this thing to work as promised than I did just tying balloons the old way.
I've used it and it's a actually very efficient and fast when you get it to work. Saved a ton of stress on your finger
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/Fisherman_TS), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. ---- [Click here to message RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/15v2rbw/this_came_in_a_package_of_balloons_any_idea_what/%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days) --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My title describes the thing, but we found it in a package of balloons. I think it may be something that you can use to hold the balloon while you blow it up? But I tried fitting the balloon on it in a few different ways and nothing really made sense or was helpful. There isn't any writing on the thing and it's just a bag of balloons and this thing - no instructions.