Hand feel

Hand feel (Hand, Fabric hand, Fabric feel) is the property of fabrics related to the touch that express sensory comfort. It is the feel of the fabrics to the skin or hand and suggests softness and smoothness of the cloth. It is an estimated and subjective property of different fabrics but nowadays, handfeel could be measured and assessed statistically.
Meaning.
Hand feel (also called handle or drape) is one of the basic characteristics that are necessary for sensory comfort that is related to tactile comfort. It is related to the friction between the clothes and the body. It is associated with smoothness, roughness, softness, and stiffness of clothing material. The degree of tactile discomfort may vary with individuals. Some of the terms that describe the tactile sensations are clingy, sticky, scratchy, prickly, soft, stiff, heavy, light and hard.
Objective.
Fabrics during manufacturing becomes harsh that is undesireable hence they are made soft again for end users or useful input materials for subsequent processes. Handfeel helps not only in selling the goods and comfort but also aid in sewing (avoids stitching holes). The hand feel matters in selecting the fabrics for a particular category or line; for instance, Softer clothes are preferred for children. Ladies' clothes are designed with lighter and softer than men's cloth. 
Process.
The feel of some fabrics like silk (satin), fine muslins (), rayon (modal or lyocell), nylon and microfibers' fabrics are naturally soft. Still, in large, it is manipulated with different processing and finishing techniques. Fabric softeners and certain surface finishes such as napping help improve the hand feel of fabrics.
Factors.
Hand feel may vary with the composition, various yarn parameters (such as hairiness, twist and yarn count), and gsm (fabric weight), and fabric construction. Some undesired acid, alkaline, and temperature treatments can make certain fabrics harsher.
The judgement of fabrics on the scale of soft to harsh is effected by the following parameters.
Fiber properties and yarn.
The staple length and diameter of the constituting fibers affect the softness of the materials. More considerable fiber length needs less twisting, and loosely twisted yarns tend to have a softer hand feel. Examples are Egyptian, and Pima cotton is softer than cotton with shorter fibers. The same is with Silk, and synthetic fibers that have infinite length are softer.
Fabric construction and thickness.
The fabric construction and thickness of the cloth can present harsh or soft handfeel. Usually, the fine and lightweight structures with loose weave or knit constructions are more delicate until the twisted or textured yarns are not used. On the other hand heavy, and thicker fabrics could be soft or harsh depending upon the after treatments and varied yarn forms.
Testing.
So far, the hand feel was a subjectively judged parameter by simply sensing it by manual touch. But now, there are hand feel testers that can evaluate the quality with parameters of bending, roughness, compression and friction.
Tests.
One of the instrumental test methods is  "AATCC TM 202:2014," which measures the "feels and looks" similar to manual sensory perceptions..