How do You Fold Fitted Bed Sheets?

Few things in life are as maddening as trying to fold a fitted sheet. It seems impossible! You shouldn’t just give up, though. There's something incredibly satisfying about opening up the linen closet to see color-coded bundles neatly where they belong instead of chaos. If your fitted sheets being untidy is stopping this from happening, you’re not alone. What you need is a fitted sheet that will lie flat in the linen closet and then look crisp and clean when it goes onto your bed. How do you fold a fitted sheet to make this happen? Actually, there is an easy way to fold a fitted sheet and we’re here to tell you about it! Say goodbye to scrunched-up, wrinkled sheets and balled up blobs taking up too much space in your linens closet. 

Folding a fitted sheet the right way can do a lot to keep your new sheets neat and you feeling refreshed when you climb into bed after a long day. If you’re investing in the best bed sheets, which you should be, you want to make sure those new linens last as long as possible. One step of proper care is putting sheets away neatly and securely. A ball in the closet is asking for wrinkles, dust, and tears.

Folding a fitted sheet may seem complicated, but our step-by-step guide makes easy work of this task.

1. Stand holding the sheet by the two adjacent corners of one of the shorter edges, which means it goes either at your head or your feet. With the sheet inside out, place one hand in each of these two corners.
2. Bring your right hand to your left, and fold the corner on your right hand over the one in your left, so the corner on top is right side out.
3. Next, reach down and pick up the corner that is adjacent to the one that was in your right hand. If you’ve done it right so far, it will be hanging in front. Fold it over the other two corners. This third corner will be inside out.
4. Bring the last corner up and fold it over the others so it is right-side out.
5. Lay the folded sheet on a flat surface and straighten it into the shape shown.
6. Fold the two edges in so all the elastic is hidden.
7. Fold the bamboo, Tencel, cotton, or sateen sheet into a rectangle.
8. Continue folding until the rectangle is the size you want it to be.

That’s it! You’re done! It really is that easy. Experts agree that this really is the best way to fold a fitted sheet. It is worth noting that this step-by-step guide is for people who are right handed. If you are left handed, flip everything to be the opposite.

Learning how to fold a fitted sheet is like driving a car, learning to use a new computer, riding a bicycle, or taking care of a newborn baby. These tasks can seem overly complicated and downright “not going to happen!” at first. Once you’ve done them smoothly a few times, they become second nature. Remember your first smartphone? You thought you’d never get the hang of it and now look at you! Knowing how to fold a fitted bed sheet will keep your linens closet more organized, your bed a lot less wrinkled, and your mood much happier. Go ahead and give these eight simple steps a few practice runs!