How to get a good handprint from your child

Getting good hand and footprints from your children can be tricky. Here are my top tips for getting a clear print.

I highly recommend using inkless wipes to capture your child’s hand or footprints. Lasting Touch uses Identifier™ Inkless wipes to capture highly detailed prints.  These wipes were developed in the USA for footprinting newborn babies for identification purposes.  The benefit of using inkless wipes over paint is that it will not clog in the creases of the skin, ensuring that maximum detail is shown. They are also easy to use and mess free!

  1. Choose a time when your child is calm and co-operative.  For young babies this could be when they are asleep or feeding. For older children do the prints when they are happy and not tired or grouchy.
  2. Baby handprints can be difficult to get as they will often clench the fist. A few minutes spent massaging the palm and relaxing the hand can really help.  A gentle squeeze of the knuckles can help draw out the fingers enough for you to get the hand onto the page. If you are unable to get a good handprint, a footprint might be easier.
  3. If the child is old enough to understand, talk them through the process and have them practice putting their hand on the page a few times before applying the inkless wipe.
  4. A small amount of tape can help to hold the paper in place on a firm surface such as a placemat.
  5. When applying the wipe, ensure even coverage but don’t push it into the cracks, avoiding getting too much solution into the creases of the skin will ensure they remain white on the paper for maximum detail.
  6. It is not necessary to press hard onto the paper, gentle contact will ensure the creases in the skin show up.  

Don’t worry if you get smudges on your prints as I can clean those up.  The prints are yours to keep and will be returned to you with your handprint jewellery.  Or you can take a photograph of them and email them to me, that way you don’t have to part with them at all.  If you would like to have handprint jewellery made with prints you already have, please contact at gemma@lastingtouch.co.uk and I will be happy to tell you if they are suitable.

 

Still not convinced, here’s a video that proves how easy it is.

Good Luck and Have fun!

6 thoughts on “How to get a good handprint from your child

  1. Hi, I’m interested in ordering an inkless kit. Do the prints need to be on special paper or can I put them on a different surface? Also, do you have different colors? Thank you.

    • Sorry, I have only just seen this. The inkless kits do come with their own special developing paper. The wipes will only work with this paper. For the purposes of transferring the print onto jewellery it is best for the prints to be black and white and so the kits I supply are black and white only.

  2. I am a Link bereavement Midwife at Scarborough Hospital and I am enquiring about the Lasting Touch Jewellery for our bereaved parents. We currently use the inkless wipe kits to create impressions of hand and foot prints, what I am wondering is if parents can use these to gain a lasting piece of jewellery?

    • Hi Natalie, I am so sorry for my delayed reply. The answer to your question is yes, parents can certainly have a piece made. The inkless wipes you use do produce good results, however I can also produce pieces from ink or paint wipes. It really does not matter how the print is on the paper. I do not need the original prints, a black and white photocopy will give just as good results. They can be posted to me, or scanned and sent via email.
      Any item from the hand and footprints range at https://www.lastingtouch.co.uk/handprintjewellery.asp is possible using the prints taken in hospital.
      Gemma

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