%20(teal%20blue)%20Abstract%20Background%20SOURCE%20Target.jpg)
I am swimming in sheets. I test and review sheets of all kinds here at WIRED, which means there are at least a dozen sets of sheets in my house at all times. I spend a ridiculous amount of time doing laundry and subsequently folding all the sheets I’ve laundered. (Seeing how sheets survive the wash is an important test, after all.)
But folding sheets sucks. We can thank the unhelpfully rounded shape of the fitted sheet for being the problem child in every family of sheets. If you've ever researched how to fold your sheets, you might have found articles and videos about how to “fold sheets in less than five minutes” and steps that involve flipping your sheet inside out. Even Martha Stewart’s methods have to explain to you where to put your left and right hands for the various steps—just reading it makes me want to stuff my sheets into a ball and call it a day.
None of us want to spend that kind of time folding or even just learning how to fold. I certainly don't. Here's what I do to fold my sheets in about a minute, and how I keep so many sets of sheets organized. You can do it too! You’re welcome for the lifehack.
Into the Middle
Look, starting with any fold at all is good news. It'll save you room in your linen closet and save your sanity when you can see all the pieces of a sheet set are together. (Pro tip: Get a couple different colors of sheets so that it's always easy to match everything.)
I like the KonMari folding method best, since it doesn't require any weird inverting or flipping the corners inside and out. Marie Kondo’s method also has an easy-to-follow graphic that I find easier to follow than video tutorials or dozens of flip-fold photos.
To start, you'll need a flat surface and your fitted sheet, the perpetrator of all folding problems. (You can replicate these steps with a flat sheet easily.) I like to make my bed before grabbing the freshly laundered load to use my quilt as the flat surface, spreading out the fitted sheet onto the bed. “Even though there is elastic inside, you will see that it is roughly a square shape,” says Kondo. “The key is to spread it out with the gathered side of the elastic facing up.”
Here's my personal step-by-step method:
- Lay out the bed sheet with the elastic edges facing up.
- Reach into the corners and follow the seam to create a more pointed corner, then press along the sides to create a cleaner line along the edges instead of a nebulous rectangle.
- Take those edges and fold toward the middle. I either fold each edge to the middle and then one side over the other, or I fold the sheet into thirds like Kondo recommends. The goal is to end up with one long line of folded sheet.
- Fold the sheet in half and in half again to create a rectangle, flattening the sheet and edges as you go.
- You're done! Now fold your top sheet similarly to get a similar size, and fold your pillowcases to sit on top.
I usually do this method with a queen size sheet, but you can do it with king size sheets too. If you have a duvet cover with rounded edges you can also use this system, but you should be able to fold a duvet cover a little more easily since you don't have the troublesome elastic corners to deal with.
You need to fold the fitted sheet carefully to create nice clean lines. I like taking a few seconds to create pointed corners out of my fitted sheet before I start folding; you can use the corner seams to find the corner, and flatten it out for a sharper corner than you'd usually get when you fold fitted sheets.
You can do this method super quickly, but taking a second to press out the fabric nice and flat at each step to get a sharp line on the sides and less air (and loose fabric) in the middle will get you closer to a perfect rectangle than a quick fold will. One editor even uses an iron on her sheets to get them nice and flat.
Also, cut yourself some slack! Keep in mind the fabric of the sheets that you're folding. More structured sheets like percale can be a little easier to hold in place as you fold them, while softer sheets like bamboo and synthetic nylon can feel like you're trying to make a shape out of water. Still, with a little patience you can get a pretty solid square shape, or square-enough if you're impatient and still have six more sets of sheets to fold like I do.
Beyond the Shelf Pile
If you still hate how your sheets look no matter how you fold them, you might want to try a storage bags or bins for your sheets. These are handy for storing sheets under the bed if your home doesn't have a linen closet, or for storing away off-season sheets.
You can also save the dust bag to save your sheets in, but not all sheets come with dust bags, and some dust bags are clearly only designed to fit the machine-pressed sheets inside of them. (I do love Quince's dust bag, though.) You can also replicate this experience by stuffing all of the sheets into a single pillowcase, which is an easy way to keep them all together. But they won't stay nicely folded in either bag.
The best sheets storage is $2. I'm serious. I added three of these Ikea storage bags to an order and was surprised how much I love them. They're the perfect size for two sets of thick flannel sheets, or you could squeeze three sets of lighter bamboo or cotton sheets in there.
Most folks I asked said they have about three sets of sheets, so one bag is a good size if you have two sheets to store and one to put on your bed. And they're $2! Buy a dozen of them for your whole home! Or buy six and only spend 12 dollars! They're a little too small for a fluffy comforter or pillow but could handle a single throw blanket.
The Company Store's storage bags are gorgeous and come in a ton of sizes, so you can pick one for your sheets, pillows, or comforters. I easily fit four sets of my bulkier linen sheets inside of it with a little room to spare (though not enough for a fifth set) and have used it to store a comforter, too. I like that it opens from the side halfway down so I can see into most of the bag without jostling the components, and has a little label spot so I can write in what kind of sheets or bedding is inside.
The Container Store makes a similar bag that's a little cheaper—the Underbed Zippered Storage Bag ($25)—which I also liked for sheets, but the material on the Company Store's was a little nicer, and I like that I can get multiple sizes for various rooms but have all the storage bags coordinate. Both have handles and label spots, and can fit larger bedding.
I used vacuum storage bags for my sheets while I was moving, but I'll never use them again. Why? All my sheets smelled like awful plastic coming out of the vacuum bags. They were all clean before going into the bag, but I wanted to wash every single set before sleeping on them again. Plus, vacuum bags can be surprisingly heavy and end up in weird, unwieldy shapes after you suck all the air out. Choose a fun storage bag instead, I beg you!
