Wide spectra of thermal treatment processes are employed during the manufacture of polyester filament yarns and fabrics. The fine structure and physical properties of polyester yarns and fabrics are drastically modified by thermal treatment. Due to these changes, the handle of the resulting polyester fabrics could be diversified. In this study. polyester fabric samples were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 15$0^{circ}C$ to 21$0^{circ}C$ under tension. In order to evaluate the effect of thermal treatment on the physical properties of polyester fabrics, handle-related evaluation methods were employed. One is KES (Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric) which has been widely used and the other is ‘Ring Test’method which is a simpler instrument than the KES-FB. Also the correlations between the results of these two methods are compared. Statistical analyses showed that fabrics hand characteristics measured by the KES and by the ‘Ring Test’give a good correlation in the case of heat treated polyester fabrics. Bending properties and shear properties measured by KES are found to be highly related to the results, PL(Peak Load) and WP(Work to Peak) measured by the Ring Test. The results demonstrate that the ‘Ring lest’could be a valuable method.