by A. L. Sugden

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: February 19, 2012

Fitted sheets are quite possibly the hardest things to fold neatly. I used to fold them without paying any mind to the floppy edges, resulting in a rather unstackable mess. My linen closet was a cotton avalanche waiting to happen. Now I fold them like a professional. The method I use can be confusing at first, but it does work. Here's how to fold a fitted sheet:

TUCK THE CORNERS INTO EACH OTHER

You're going to tuck all four corners into each other. Follow these easy steps to accomplish that.

1. Find two adjacent corners.

The first thing you need to do is find the corners. I always turn the sheet inside out. The sheet's seams make nice sharp corners when you find them. You'll want two corners on the same side of the sheet, whether short or long.

2. Use your fingers to accurately place one corner in the other.

When you've found two corners of the same side, stick your index fingers in the corners so that the very corner of the seam is sticking up at the tip of your fingers. Bring your fingers together, and rotate your right arm until the right corner drapes over the left, with the seams matching on top of your finger.

3. Without undoing the first two corners, tuck the other two corners into each other.

If you hold the tucked corners in one hand, you should be able to fix the other corners. You'll want to pull out any part of the sheet that got caught on itself so you have nice clean edges. The result should look like you cut the sheet in half.

4. Tuck the sets of corners into each other.

Now, stick your fingers in the corners one more time, and flop the right corner over the left, just like you did before. All of your corners are tucked into each other now, with the seams matching as closely as possible.

FOLD IN THIRDS

Here's the easiest part. Lay your sheet on a flat surface, with the floppy side up, long side closest to you. Fold the floppy edges over and straighten so that the perimeter is a neat rectangle. Don't worry too much about what the corners themselves look like. As long as all four corner seams match, it'll work. Now fold the top third of the sheet down and the bottom third up, straightening edges as necessary to keep a neat rectangle. Fold again in thirds from left to right.

And you now have a neatly folded fitted sheet! You can fold in halves, if you like, but I find thirds work nicely. Now that you know how to fold fitted sheets so neatly, it's ok to pull down your own cotton avalanche and fold all your fitted sheets: I did! Happy folding!

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