Inflatable slides and castles and rain–how to protect the inflatable and what to do when it gets wet?
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Update time : 2025-06-03 15:52:12
Inflatable slides and bouncy castles are great attractions for festivals, birthdays and outdoor events. However, like any equipment used outdoors, they are exposed to changing weather conditions.
In the case of an inflatable, rain can be a serious problem, and if we don't know how to properly secure the inflatable and what to do when it gets wet, we'll be doomed!
In this article we will explain how to protect inflatable slides and castles from moisture and what to do if we are faced with a sudden downpour and suddenly find hundreds of liters of water in our inflatable.
lCan children play in the rain?
lHow to protect an inflatable from rain?
lWhat to do if the inflatable slide gets wet?
lHow to properly dry a bouncy castle ?
lThe most common mistakes and their consequences
lBest Practices for Preserving and Storing Inflatables
1. Can children play in the rain? Rain on the inflatable causes children to get wet after using it. Responsible parents will be reluctant to let their children on such an inflatable. Additionally, a wet inflatable means much higher speeds of descent, which can cause a risk of injury and dangerous situations.
Therefore, regardless of the outside temperature, if the inflatable is not intended for use with water ( water inflatables are a different category of inflatable attractions), we strongly suggest that it be dried first and only then used by users.
2. How to protect an inflatable from rain? The best way to protect your bouncy castles and slides from rain is prevention. Before the event starts, it is worth checking the weather forecast and having a contingency plan in place. If the weather forecast tells us that there is a 99 percent chance that it will rain from 1 to 10 p.m., and our rental lasts from 2 to 6 p.m., it is worth talking to the organizer about whether it would be better to postpone the set-up of the bouncy castle to another event/date.
An option worth considering is to prepare a tarpaulin, which we can quickly cover the inflatable with when it starts raining. This is a frequently used solution, because although it will not protect the attraction from getting wet 100%, it will significantly reduce the amount of water that will wet our inflatable.
3. What to do if the inflatable slide gets wet? However, if you were unable to avoid the rain and the inflatable slide got wet, and there is already a queue of children waiting in front of the inflatable wanting to use it, your task is to dry it as quickly as possible. If the blower from the bouncy castle has been turned off during a downpour (we strongly suggest this) and hidden from the rain, the first thing to do is to connect it and inflate the attractions. This way, a lot of water will flow out of the bouncy castle during the pumping.
Remember! Always dry the attractions with the blower connected and working ! This will make drying much easier. Once the attractions are inflated, first remove any puddles of water (yes, after a downpour you will have puddles of water in the inflatables). You can do this by "stepping" the water with your feet from the places where the water is standing to the entrance to the attractions or use buckets for this purpose. Also remember to take off your shoes, socks and roll up your pants Once you have removed the large pools of water, get the mops and cloths out. They will help you get the inflatable back to a usable state, meaning to a state where it can be used (because you are at an event), but where the inflatable is still wet inside.
4. How to properly dry a bouncy castle? Even if you managed to dry the inflatable so that the children could play on it again, after a heavy downpour there will definitely still be water inside the attraction, and it's your job to get rid of it. So remember to unfold the inflatable as soon as possible after such an event (preferably the next day), inflate it and remove the water. If the attraction operates normally on one 1.8 kW blower , we recommend using two - each with a power of 1.8 kW - when drying it . However, leave one air outlet open, through which you will be able to enter the inflatable and clean the water that will be inside it. An additional way to make your work easier is to put something on the front of the attraction (something that will be safe for the inflatable) and create a slight slope. This will direct the water from the entire interior of the inflatable to its back. This will allow you to easily clean all the water from the inside of the attraction. High temperature and sun will also be beneficial for us. So the warmer the better. The dandelion dries much faster in such weather, and the moisture that remains inside disappears very quickly. If the weather is closer to 5 degrees instead of 30 degrees, and the sun is not helping us, it is worth considering using air heaters. Thanks to them, we will be sure that the inflatable inside will also be dry, and at the next event we will not encounter a stinking surprise. Remember that drying in the sun or using heaters can take several hours. However, it is worth doing this and only after making sure that the inflatable is dry, pack it away. Leaving attractions wet significantly reduces their lifespan.
5. The most common mistakes and their consequences One of the most common mistakes is rolling up a wet inflatable without drying it first. Moisture inside the structure promotes the formation of mold, which shortens the life of the equipment and makes it less attractive to customers, and in addition it stinks If you leave such an inflatable for a week, it won't be a tragedy (although a slight stench may appear ). However, if you leave it, let's say from October to April, you'd better call a priest. We don't know what's in it.
Another problem and mistake is storing inflatable slides and castles in places with high humidity or outside. The inflatable does not have to be stored in a warm, heated room. The most important thing is to keep it dry.
We suggest placing a few containers of rodent poison near the inflatable. Unfortunately, they also pose a threat to our attractions.
6. Best practices for maintaining and storing inflatables In order for inflatable slides and castles to serve you for a long time, it is worth paying special attention to ensuring that they are rolled up dry.
The most important thing is to dry it dry after the last use, at the end of the season. If the weather outside no longer allows us to do this outside, then by all means rent a hall or other room where you can do it comfortably. Dry it there, clean it from dirt. Check it for damage and prepare it for the next season.
