Uniform fabric terms: H

H

Hairiness

Fiber ends protruding from a spun yarn. Often given as index H, the total protruding fiber length in cm per cm of yarn. High hairiness raises pilling and loom breaks. Read the guide on Hairiness

Handle

How a fabric feels to the hand: soft, crisp, dry, smooth. It is subjective but consistent enough between experienced buyers to be worth discussing against a physical sample. Read the guide on Handle

Header card

Another name for a sample book, a mounted set of cuttings across qualities. Worth knowing as a separate term because asking a mill for a header card and asking for a shade card request two different things, and the wrong one arrives either a stage too early or a stage too late in the approval sequence. Read the guide on Header card

Heald frame

A frame on the loom holding the heddle wires that the warp ends are threaded through. The frames rise and fall to open the shed, and the number of frames and their lifting order decide the weave. Read the guide on Heald frame

Heat setting

A controlled heat treatment that fixes the dimensions of a synthetic or blended fabric so it stops trying to return to an earlier state. It is what stops a polyester blend relaxing or distorting in later washing, and a fabric that was not properly heat set will show it as shrinkage or as a shifting hand after the first few laundering cycles. Read the guide on Heat setting

Heat transfer

Applying a logo or print by pressing a pre-printed film or vinyl onto the fabric under heat and pressure. How well it lasts depends on the fiber content of the cloth and on the wash temperature it later sees. Read the guide on Heat transfer

Heat-setting

Passing a polyester-rich fabric through controlled heat to lock its dimensions. It is the polyester equivalent of sanforizing, which applies to cotton. Read the guide on Heat-setting

Heddle

A wire with a small eye in the middle, hung in a heald frame; also called a heald. Each warp end is threaded through the eye of one heddle, so the frames can lift and lower the ends. Read the guide on Heddle

Hedging

Locking in an exchange rate in advance, usually with a forward contract through a bank, so that a payment due in dollars, pounds or euros converts at a known rate whatever the currency does before it arrives. Exporters hedge to protect the price they quoted; a hedge does not change what the buyer pays in their own currency.

Herringbone

A twill whose diagonal reverses direction at regular intervals, making a column of V shapes. A classic texture for blazers and suiting. Read the guide on Herringbone

High-visibility fabric

Fluorescent base cloth in a defined colour range, used with certified retroreflective tape to make garments that stand out in traffic or low light. It is a separate certified supply chain, not a finish added to ordinary uniform cloth. Read the guide on High-visibility fabric

Hot wash

A wash cycle at the top of the temperature range, typical of hospital and institutional laundries that wash for hygiene. It is where unstabilised shrinkage, yellowing on whites and loss of handle show up first, so fabric bound for hot-wash service should be tested at the temperature the laundry actually uses. Read the guide on Hot wash

HS heading

The four-digit level of the Harmonised System, one level above the national tariff line. Origin rules and agreement schedules are often written at heading level, so a rule stated for headings 55.12 to 55.16 covers every national line underneath them.

HSN code

A code from the Harmonised System of Nomenclature that classifies goods for tax and customs. Fabric is classified by fiber and construction, not by the garment it will become. Read the guide on HSN code

Looking for something that isn't here? The full guide library goes deeper on every term, and you can always ask us directly.