Step-by-Step Guide to Folding a Fitted Sheet Like a Pro (Illustrated)

If you’ve ever tried folding a fitted sheet before, you might have had a nightmare experience that went a little something like this: violently folding and refolding the sheet, sighing in frustration, cursing and eventually balling it up and throwing it in a heap in some tragic corner of your closet. You don’t have to resort to this outcome — though I have many times before knowing what I know now.

Many people think folding a fitted sheet is an impossible task that takes a team (or at least several hands) or some kind of crazy gymnastics to accomplish. But it’s not that hard once you know how to do it using this trusty hack. 

The reason why fitted sheets are so dang hard to fold is that they have stretchy, rounded edges. It’s obvious how to fold a square object, but folding a rounded one? That’s a little tougher. 

There’s a lot of tutorials online about how to properly fold a fitted sheet, but here’s a foolproof way that’s a little less complicated. Here’s what to do. For more tips, learn how to best wash your sheets and bedding, and learn about these laundry symbols or you might ruin your clothes.

How best to fold a fitted sheet

First, lay the sheet out on a flat surface like your bed or the floor. Then, grab one edge and tuck it into the edge directly across from it. 

So, if you grab the right edge, tuck it into the left edge. It doesn’t matter if you’re tucking horizontally or vertically — just don’t tuck diagonally. Also, as you tuck, make sure the corner seams line up. 

If you do this part right, the elastic will be folded down and the new edge of the sheet will be smooth right angles. Do the same thing to the bottom corners. 

Final steps

The hardest part is now over, and you just need to smooth out the edges and corners. If the sheet won’t lie perfectly flat, don’t panic. The bumps will be hidden by the time you finish folding it.

Now, you should have a rectangle-ish shape to work with. Fold the sheet in half so that the elastic edges are hidden, smooth out the corners and fold the sheet in half again. Keep folding it in half until you have a nice, neat bundle.

This will probably take some practice — it definitely took me a few times to perfect. But give it a few tries and you’ll have folded linens that you can easily store without all the hassle. 

Bonus: A quick shortcut 

There is another, albeit lazier, way. You can just fold your sheets however you want, then stuff them into a matching pillow case. Your linen closet will still look tidy and no one will ever know.

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