Jumping Castles and other inflatable amusements

Below are some tips to help you get many years use out of your Blast Zone jumping castle:

1) Always pack your inflatable away dry and clean. This is particularly important if you're packing away a water slide at the end of the season otherwise mould will develop during the winter. Even on dry days, the underside of your bouncer can get damp from the ground so leave it out to dry, particularly if you plan to pack it away for a long time.

2) Place a tarpaulin underneath your bouncer prior to use. Even if you go to the effort to ensure that there are no sticks, rocks or other sharp/rough objects on the ground where your bouncer is going, there is a chance you will miss something. A tarp underneath your jumping castle or water slide helps minimise wear on the underside by reducing friction and rubbing with the ground.

3) Repair holes and pulled stitching as soon as possible. If you do put a small hole in your bouncer or the stitching starts to come open through wear and tear, repair it while it's still small and before it becomes a big problem.

4) Keep dogs and other pets away. It may surprise you to know that the number one cause of damage to inflatable jumping castles is from excited dogs biting holes in them. Sharp claws and teeth are not compatible with your bouncer so keep the pets away.

5) Supervise, supervise, supervise. Supervision during play is not only important for safety to ensure there's no rough play or kids trying to do silly things, it will also give longer life to your bouncer. Younger children don't think like we do and they will not hesitate to take toys, sticks and food onto the bouncer with them to "enhance" their play experience.

6) Keep the big kids off. While Blast Zone bouncers are built tough and adults have been known to join in on the fun, your bouncer is going to wear out a whole lot quicker if you allow it to be used this way. The stitching is simply not strong enough to withstand the sort of force big kids and adults will place on it if they are on for extended periods of time.

7) Use Armor All or a similar product to protect your bouncer from the suns rays. Your bouncer will look like new a whole lot longer using a proctectant, but check on a small area first to ensure it doesn't cause damage. Also, if you want to do this take care that using a protectant on playing surfaces may cause them to become very slippery and dangerous.

8) Don't drag the bouncer. If you drag your bouncer while setting it up or putting it away, you'll quickly start to wear a hole in it as it rubs on the ground. The same is true if it's in its carry bag as the carry bag is made from the same sort of material.

We have decided to create this blog in order to assist people with their purchasing decision when contemplating buying a jumping castle.

While people are increasingly looking to the Internet as an option for making a purchase, it can be with some trepidation. The buyer relies on images of the product being sold, as well as written descriptions, and occasionally video content of the products. However, in all honesty these are a poor substitute for being able to see and touch a product in person.

It is worth noting though that in a lot of department stores such as K-mart etc., the customer will not necessarily have the opportunity to see and feel a product other than what they can see on the box on the shelf.

Like anything there are advantages and disadvantages with making an online purchase as opposed to an instore purchase and I have experienced them all as a regular online purchaser. Which is why I thought it was important to create this blog to help fill in some of the gaps for people who are contemplating purchasing a jumping castle for their children.

Matt Rose
PROPRIETOR - JUMP CITY

Each of our jumping castles is designed similarly to their larger and more expensive commercial cousins requiring a continuous air flow blower to ensure that they remain inflated. All of our bouncers, even the cheapest, include an electric blower with them in the box.

There are some home use jumping castles out there that are designed to remain inflated and therefore do not require a continuous air flow blower. You should be aware that this design is more prone to damage and deflation because the jumping castle has a perfect seal of air meaning that air has nowhere to escape when you've got several children bouncing on them at once.

Blast Zone jumping castles are designed to continually "leak" air so that they have plenty of give for when children bounce. This doesn't mean that the castle deflates because it is contantly having hundreds of litres of air pumped into it, replacing immediately the air that is displaced as children bounce. The advantage with this design is that even if your jumping castle gets small holes in it, this will have virtually no effect on the operation of the bouncer.

To view our range of jumping castles click here.

We often have people ask what our jumping castles are made out of. The technical answer is oxford cloth and commercial grade phthalate free PVC. This material in the major structural parts of our bouncers and slides and feels similar to the type of material they used to make those big green tents that the Scouts and other groups would use.

The material is not at all like the plastic which is used in inexpensive blow up pools and toys which is easily punctured and torn. The material also is not like the material you may have seen in some home use jumping castles sold at Target, ALDI, Toys R Us etc., which feels thin and flimsy and similar to a fly sheet used in camping.

On surfaces used for bouncing, the material in Blast Zone bouncers has a smooth finish minimising friction for your children's skin and is of the same type and strength used in many commercial jumping castles: something you will not find in other domestic jumping castles.

Our jumping castles are put together using needle and thread, just like the more expensive commercial inflatables. The advantage of this is that they can be repaired relatively easily using a needle and thread and the design has a certain amount of "give" so that when children bounce air pressure is being dispersed throughout the entire jumping castle and out of its stitching rather than too much air pressure in one place causing it to pop like cheaper jumping castles do.