For the last few weeks I have been noting when I get pops from my balloons...

It seems that (far and away) the most usual time is when I am twisting around a pinch twist, especially if the twist is quite tight against other bubbles. I am fine if it is the end of a balloon I am wrapping in... the problem comes when I am joining 2 twisted balloons at the pinch twist.

Can anybody who does not suffer this problem explain their method to me.

Thanks,
Martin

Can you tie the balloons together and then make the pinch twist?
or when tying pull the ends of the balloon taught so that there is little give where tying the knot, this hopefully will give you less friction so less pop

also, when you're doing the pinch twist, make sure you dont make a squeaky click sound

Some other suggestions to avoid popping pinch twists is to push the air out of the balloon slightly prior to making the pinch twist to reduce the pressure in the pinch twist. Do not twist more times than necessary to maintain the figure, each additional twist adds pressure. When linking at a pinch twist, wrap around the pinch twist without performing additional twisting of the pinch twist.

I also have found that some colors and batches of balloons can not withstand the pressure of the pinch twists. I have had to adjust my balloon usage during line work due to batches of balloons that popped when performing pinch twists.

Bosco

My suggestions would be the same as above. Some things Ive noticed help me are like Bosco said, squeezing the air away from the balloon to be connected. The goal is to have as little contact between the two balloons as possible. If you are let's say building a teddy bear and you want to add legs to a pinch twist on the body made from a 350 twisted in half, lay the connection points next to each other and instead of pushing or pulling the balloons together, roll them together. I actually lift up one end of the pinch twist and with the other hand roll the balloon foreword, through the pinch twist and crossing over the other end of the balloon to lock it in place. One last tip is stretching the balloon after inflation. Most know to do this already, but stretching the balloon after inflating does two things. It makes the balloon softer and easier to work with and it also let's me know if the balloon is deffective at this point in time. If the balloon does not pop during the stretch, it usually will withstand any torture I .put it through. Hope this helps. Enjoy 2009 everyone!

Thanks everyone,

Some good tips there that I will try to practice with.
Martin.