How to Fold a Fitted Sheet
Somedays, you wake up in the morning with enough motivation to take on all of life’s toughest challenges. But what should you do with all that energy?
Maybe you’ll decide to tackle an Ironman triathlon. Maybe you’ll sit down to write the next great American novel. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ll face up against the greatest battle of them all – folding a fitted sheet.
If that sounds like an impossible task, you’re certainly not alone. A surprising (and alarming, tbh) number of people have absolutely no idea how to fold a fitted sheet. Some popular suggestions from across the internet include:
- Rolling the sheet up in a ball
- Only owning one fitted sheet so you never have to fold it
- Starting to fold the sheet and watching in horror as it grows in size somehow
- Opening the window and hoping birds will fly in and fold it for you like in Snow White
In reality, the birds may be judging you *just a little bit*
Well, you do you, but we thought today we’d offer some alternatives to those “methods” for folding a fitted sheet.
Here are three ways to fold a fitted sheet that anyone (yes, anyone!) can do.
Method 1: Four Corners
Start with your fitted sheet spread out on top of your bed with the elastic facing up.
Put one of your hands inside each of the two corners closest to you so you’re touching the side of the sheet that you sleep on. Holding those corners, fold the sheet in half lengthwise so you can situate the corners you’re holding inside of the elastic of the other two corners.
At this point, you should have a sheet that’s half its usual size with only two elastic corners visible. Smooth it so it becomes a shape similar to a square. We’re not looking for perfection here.
Look how much more fun folding sheets is when you do it with friends!
If you get stuck inside the sheet and have to flap around like a baby bird trying to fly, don’t worry. It happens to the best of us. Just make sure that nobody’s filming you to post a “folding fails” video to TikTok and push through. Or take a nap to recharge. We’ll wait.
Starting with the side closest to you, start folding up 8 to 10-inch deep sections of sheet lengthwise. Do this about four times and you should have a long, hot dog-looking sheet. You’re nearly there!
Now, fold one end of the sheet over in a foot-long section twice and repeat on the other side. With one more fold down the middle, you should have a perfectly folded middle sheet.
Bonus Points: Fold one half of the sheet into the other so it’s a self-contained sheet package that won’t mysteriously unfold in your linen closet.
Method 2: Corners with a Twist
Hold your fitted sheet up with the elastic facing you. Like with method 1, put your hand inside one of the top corners and push it into the other top corner so it sits nicely inside the other.
Here’s where things get wild.
Slide down one of the edges of the sheet to reach one of the bottom corners. Fold that corner up and tuck it inside the top corner. Repeat with the other bottom corner.
It’s a corner foursome up in here.
Now, at the bottom, you should straighten the two folds so they lie flat and against each other. Lay the sheet down on a table and straighten out the elastic corner, too. You should have a sheet square once again.
Fold the sheet in thirds until you’re back to our familiar sheet hot dog. Fold in thirds the other way to get your perfectly folded fitted sheet. You wouldn’t even be able to tell it apart from a folded flat sheet.
Method 3: the Marie Kondo Method
Yes, everyone’s favorite tidiness consultant has the perfect simple method for folding fitted sheets, too. Obviously. Here’s how it works:
Place your fitted sheet on a flat surface, elastic side up. From the longer side, fold the sheet in thirds over the elastic, then again from the other long side so the elastic is completely covered. Flatten as you go.
Next, fold the sheet in half to make a rectangle that’s about 2 feet long and 1 foot wide. Flatten. Sensing a pattern here?
Fold the sheet in half one last time and you’ll have a folded fitted sheet that would make Marie Kondo proud.
Give one of these methods a shot the next time you wash your sheet set. We promise that once you do, you’ll never go back to rolling your fitted sheet up in a ball!
Let us know how it turns out below.
For the record, no one folds fitted sheets like the S&G gang. Five-time world champs over here.