Home Ec 101: How to Fold Sheets

Home Ec 101: How to Fold Sheets

If you graduated high school within the past 20 years or so, you may never have had a home economics course. As it stands, you probably learned to do your household chores in a haphazard way, one load of laundry at a coin-fed machine at a time.

 

So why worry about folding your sheets, anyway? Though it may seem like a fussy topic on the surface, we’d argue that getting this right will simplify your life and bring a shot of joy when climbing into a well made bed. Folding your sheets will save you valuable storage space in your linen closet and keep your bed linens crisp and wrinkle-free. And that leads to a prettier bed — one that you’ll be proud to slip into at the end of the day.

Step One: Strike While the Iron’s Hot

Actually, folding your sheets correctly helps you avoid ironing them. (Who has time for that?) To keep your sheets free of wrinkles and creases, remove them from the dryer immediately and fold them while they’re still warm and pliable. This will allow you to smooth out the wrinkles for a sharper-looking bed later.

Pro Tip: If you miss out on the end of your dryer’s cycle, throw in a damp washcloth and re-run it for a bit to steam out any wrinkles before you fold.

Step Two: The Fitted Sheet

The big challenge with folding a fitted sheet is the rounded, puckered elastic corners. Your job is to turn them into sharp edges so you can make a nice, square packet. To do this, hold the sheet sideways and drape the top corners over each of your hand like an oven mitt. Then bring your hands together to fold the sheet in half and tuck the right corner under the left one, like a pocket. Repeat for the bottom. Now that you have two pockets, put your hands in those and fold the sheet in half again. At this point, you can place the sheet flat on the bed and fold in the side that still has curved pockets to make a rectangle. Once you’re working with a rectangle, it’s easy to fold in half or thirds repeated until your sheet in the size you like.

Step Three: The Flat Sheet

If you’re folding sheets alone, try using your bed as a folding table to make things easier — especially if you don’t want to drag your clean sheet on the ground. Bring opposite corners together and smooth the sheet, repeating as you go to make an ever-smaller packet. Fold the sheet until it’s the same size as your fitted sheet so they stack neatly in your linen closet.

Step Four: The Pillowcases

In most cases, you’ll only need to fold your pillowcases in half to make them stack evenly atop your flat and fitted sheets. If you like, you can save one pillowcase to use as a bag to hold your folded sheets, which makes it easier to carry them all to your bed when it’s time to make it. This is optional, but it’s definitely appealing to anybody who’s nice and neat!

Once you master the technique of folding your sheets, you’ll find that it takes no time at all to store them neatly. Happy adulting!

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