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What exactly is referred to by the ,"hand" of a product?

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1.6K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  badalou  
#1 ·
I'm going to show the depths of my inexperience here, but I see the discriptive term, "hand" used extensively on the forum.
What exactly is referred to by the ,"hand" of a product?
Is it merely the softness of the feel, or more to do with the transfer window?
Someone please give me a, "hand" here.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
#2 ·
Re: hand?

Yeah, they're talking about the feel... like screen-print plastisol ink has a "heavier hand" because you can feel the texture & weight of the design on the shirt. Inkjet transfers have a film that can be felt as well. Water-based screen-print inks are thinner & put pigments into the fabric, so you barely feel the design on the shirt - soft & light, that's a "soft hand". Dye sub sublimates the dye into the fibers of the fabric rather than applying a film to the top of the fabric, so you get the "soft hand", no-feel effect.