This week I’m going visual with a step by step guide on folding a fitted sheet. This comes up often with clients, so I thought I’d try and make it easy. Folding sheets isn’t necessarily fun, but it doesn’t have to be hard and you can get good results!
It is as simple as that! Having a large flat surface helps, especially if you are on the short side (like I am).
Keep folded sheets either in a linen closet or on a shelf/drawer in the bedroom where the sheets belong. You may also wish to note on the tag with an indelible marker the size of the sheets if the size is not clearly printed. Another alternative is to label the front of the shelf on which the sheets sit. Some people store folded sheets inside a matching pillowcase, so there are lots of options.
Hope this little pictorial was helpful. Do you have a technique for folding or storing sheets that you love?
Omg I so needed this as I never can seem to fold a fitted sheet. My grandmother was a pro at this but to be honest I never could master it myself. So this tutorial is so needed and appreciated. Thanks!! ?
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It’s one of those tasks that you just need to get a technique under your belt and you are good to go. Weren’t grandmothers great at stuff like this? They had many skills we have lost!
I’m laughing because I have a technique for folding a fitted sheet that “kind of” works, but is a little different each time. Some sheets are more cooperative than others. I’m excellent at folding flat sheets and pillowcases. I get the fitted ones done, but they are more of the “good enough” category.
I remember one summer my daughter worked at a youth hostel. And they showed her their method for folding a fitted sheet. She came home so excited to demonstrate. And now she’s got it down. It’s an excellent skill to have. Thank you for the demo.
Good for your daughter! I have a friend whose son worked in the laundry at a camp and similarly became a professional. It doesn’t hurt that he was over 6 feet tall and could do the whole technique without letting the sheet touch the ground. Maybe in my next life:)
Throughout high school I worked catering gigs at weddings and parties. I learned to fold a mean cloth napkin fan – folding neat fitted sheets not so much. But I’m okay with that. 😉 Glad to know I can revert to your pics if I ever want to master the technique!
I’d love a tutorial on the cloth napkin fan at the next NAPO-CT meeting!!!
OMG This is great, I truly believe fitted sheets were created by someone to torture us!
They can be a bear for sure! Often I just take the sheets off, wash them, and put them back on so I can avoid the process altogether:)
I know how to fold a fitted sheet and do it exactly as you so beautifully describe. These are the best directions I’ve ever seen. If I didn’t know how before, I would be able to follow these great directions.
Glad to know we use a similar approach! It’s one of those tasks that having a solid approach makes a big difference, right?
I learned how to do this when I worked in retail at a home store. My mom and I would have to fold them together, but doing this alone this way works great. It’s so much easier when you can do the folding by yourself without having someone else with you. Sometimes you just don’t have that luxury. Thanks for sharing these detailed steps.
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All things “bed” are easier when done with two, but as you say, often there simply isn’t someone around to help. Hoping this makes the task seem a bit more approachable and successful!
Love this! I’m pretty organized, but this is one thing I struggle with. My best fried does this perfect. I’ve seen her do it so many times, but i just can seem to get it. I’m definitely following these directions my next bedding laundry day. Thanks!
I hope you have success, Rekita. Having a technique can make all the difference:)
That’s how I fold a fitted sheet too. Great visuals to help people understand.
Hard to explain how to do some tasks without some images, right? I’m a visual learning myself.
I mastered this skill years ago, and it has brought me great joy. That sounds funny I know, but as an organized thinker, having a messy, rumpled sheet in the closet drove me crazy. I feel great satisfaction every time I fold my fitted sheets. I also think that helping people learn a skill like this can open the door for learning other skills. They might think, “If I can do that, I can learn to do …. as well!”
I totally agree, Sheri. It feels great to acquire a skill, and it builds our willingness to try something else. I think this is one major way for us to build confidence in any arena!
I just washed all our sheets this past Friday! I’ll have to try out your system next time they come out of the dryer although lately since I’m home, I just take them from the laundry room directly to the bedrooms. Thanks for the visual–the process will be much easier to follow with photos to refer to.
I often take them right out of the dryer and put them back on the bed myself Stacey!
Thank you for breaking this down, Seana! I don’t think I’ve ever successfully folded a fitted sheet before – I like to use it to show my clients I have feet of clay, LOL. Many have tried to show me but I quickly forget so thanks for this tutorial. Have you put it on YouTube yet? I’d love to link to that in a future post.
That’s a thought, Lucy! I’m making a list of Youtube videos to create. I’ll add this:)
Great pictorial. I confess my husband does this. He has 35 inch arms and is much taller than I. I never check his method but he’s good at it. If I have to return to the job , I will keep this and refer to it.
Lucky you, Dianne. This is definitely easier if you are taller!
Gorgeous! I was an Innkeeper many moons ago in SF, and I still remember the housekeepers all trying to show us Innkeepers how to do it correctly, or at least correctly for that Inn. Mine were.. not that good.
I think I need to try again.
That is making me laugh to think of the housekeepers teaching you all what to do. Housekeepers and people who wash the sheets for large organizations are always the pros:)
You are much better at folding fitted sheets than I am. Well done.
Thanks, Janet. We all have our “things,” right?
Hi Seana!
This is a great tutorial! I was doing the laundry in a laundry mat in Agrentina and the assistant saw me wrestling with my fitted sheet and she scolded me and asked me if no one had ever taught me how to fold a fitted sheet. Well, no one had. She demonstrated and presented me with a perfectly folded sheet in less than a minute. That was about 30 years ago and honestly, I have forgotten the exact technique she used. My fitted sheet folding is iffy at best. This tutorial really helped refresh my memory. I would also probably benefit from a video demonstration if you could share that. Thanks so much! Always learning from your example!
I have to say the whole “sheet folding” thing is easier when you are taller, so your best option might be to enlist some of those handsome men in your family LOL! I am thinking about doing some more youtube videos, so will let you know. Hope you and everyone out there is keeping healthy! So far, so good here.
Wow, your fitted sheets look much more tidy than mine do after folding! Will have to try this method next time.
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Once you get onto it, it is easy. Feels nice to have linens that aren’t flailing all over the place:)
Hahah I still need to try this. You would not want to see my linen closet shelf right now…..
Actually, I would love seeing your linen closet shelf because that kind of things jazzes me. I love possibility!
Great post!!
I really love this technique.
Thanks for sharing this post here with us.
Great post!!
Thanks for sharing this post here with us.