A visual guide to perfectly folding your fitted sheet

If you've ever tried to fold a fitted sheet, you may have had a nightmarish experience that went something like this: You folded the sheet violently and refolded it, sighed in frustration, cursed, and finally crumpled it up and threw it in a heap in some sad corner of your closet. You don't have to resort to this outcome (although I did it many times before I knew what I know now). Many people think that folding a fitted sheet is an impossible task that requires a team (or at least several hands) or some kind of crazy gymnastics. But it's not that hard once you know how to do it with this tried-and-true trick.

The reason fitted sheets are so darn hard to fold is because they have stretchy, rounded edges. It's obvious how to fold a square object, but a rounded one? That's a little harder. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to properly fold a fitted sheet, but here's a foolproof method that's a little less complicated. Here's how.

For more tips, see How to wash bed sheets and beddingand learn about these laundry symbols, otherwise you may ruin your clothes.

How to fold a fitted sheet

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

So when you grab the right edge, pin it to the left edge. It doesn't matter whether you pin horizontally or vertically – just don't pin diagonally. When pinning, make sure the corner seams are aligned.

If you do this part correctly, the elastic will fold down and the new edge of the sheet will form smooth, right angles. Do the same with the bottom corners.

Final steps

The hardest part is now over, you just need to smooth out the edges and corners. If the sheet isn't perfectly flat, don't panic. The bumps will be hidden when you're done folding.

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

This will probably take some practice—it definitely took me a few tries to perfect it. But once you try it a few times, you'll have folded laundry that you can easily put away without much fuss.

Bonus: A quick shortcut

There is another, albeit more convenient, way. You can simply fold your sheets as you like and then stuff them into a matching pillowcase. Your linen closet will still look neat and no one will ever know.

More tips and tricks for washing laundry