How to fold a fitted sheet

One of the most frustrating domestic tasks.

January 26 2020

There’s no denying folding a fitted sheet can be one of the most frustrating domestic tasks.

The good news is, it is possible to fold these elastic-bound sheets into a neat, ready-to-store stack with your flat sheets and pillow cases without the pile turning into a crumpled mess.

For this week’s Better Home Hacks, Better Homes & Garden’s Dora Papas shares her tips for folding fitted sheets and pillow cases into one beautiful stack.

Watch: How to fold a fitted sheet

To start, Papas advises to lay your fitted sheet on a flat surface the elastic edge facing up so you can see the seam allowance.

 Pick up the corner of the sheet with one hand and pick up the opposite corner - one in each hand - and flip the material over your hands, still pinching the corners.

 Slide your hands into the opposite corners, pinch so all corners are held.

 “What you need to do is shake, shake, shake because we want everything to be as smooth and as open as possible,” says Papas.

Next, take right hand and bring to the left hand, flip over the fabric so all corner seams are inside each other and lay it out on table.

“I know it doesn’t look like much now but it will,” she says. “Flatten out the sheet and you’re and ready to fold.”

 Fold the sheet into thirds lengthwise, then fold the sheet into thirds width-wise and you’ll end up with a square shape.

“You now have a have a fitted sheet that is beautifully folded,” she says.

She advises to place the flat sheet on top of the fitted sheet and take the pillowcase and fold it into thirds and thirds again and place it on top of the sheet stack.

Fold the second pillowcase into thirds lengthwise and wrap this pillowcase around the sheet stack, tucking the loose end under the decorative edge of the pillowcase.

“There you have it,” she says. “One beautifully folded package and all of your sheet sets will be together,” she says.

Originally published on Better Homes and Gardens