When I was newly married and fairly stupid (sorry, I believe in honesty), I taped The Martha Stewart Show everyday, then came home from work, got a snack, a pen, and a notebook, watched with the remote in hand and took notes. Every. Day.
I know. Please don’t judge.
I can clearly remember the day that Martha taught the world how to fold a fitted sheet. Well, the world except me. I paused. I rewound. I scribbled. I scrabbled. I even went and got a big blob of a fitted sheet out of our tiny linen closet and attempted to follow her steps as she folded.
I fought the fitted sheet and the fitted sheet won. I never could figure out what the heck she did.
Flash forward twenthirtwellty some years and here I am, writing about how to fold a fitted sheet. Who knew my housekeeping failures would come back to haunt me in such a public forum?
That video still exists on Youtube. When I was doing research for this article, I recognized it as I glanced at the taglines, but then the flashbacks started. So I refused to watch. Watch it if you want. You might be smarter than me.
I did find two separate articles that basically have the same explanation worded in separate ways. Both articles made sense to me, so I took the challenge.
Either I am wiser, more stubborn, these people explained better, or all three, but I did it! I folded a fitted sheet! Both times! Both authors!
So at this time I would like to offer to you as well the chance to fight the fitted sheet and win. May the DreamFit force be with you.
Daniel DiClerico writes in Consumer Report’s How to Fold A Fitted Sheet that there are only three steps needed in this seemingly impossible task.
- What you want do is find a corner and stick your finger in the point.
- Run your hand down the long side and find the other point. It’s important to start off with the printed side/the top side in.
- Then you bring the points together and fold one side over the other.
- Then pinch the corner to hold onto it and shake that out
- Then find your other corners and do the same.
- Then, put your finger in the point of one, find the other point, and just repeat the same process again.
- Then Just put those two points together and fold them on top of each other and shake it out in between each step.
- Lay it down on a flat surface and fold the ends in and smooth.
- Next, fold it in half the long way and then fold it into thirds.
In this Better Homes and Gardens article , the directions are essentially the same, but this writer shortens the explanation into three steps.
Step One
Holding the sheet inside out with its elastic edge facing you, place your hands into the two adjacent top corners. Bring your hands together, folding one corner over the other to create a pocket.
Step Two
Holding the pocket you just created with one hand, gather the other end of the sheet with your free hand and again place one pocket point into the other.
With your arms outstretched, bring the two pockets together and flip the elastic edges over each other. You should be left with a partially folded sheet that’s about one fourth its original size. If necessary, straighten the edges to make the corners as square as possible.
Step Three
Arrange the partially folded sheet on a table or bed with the gathered edges facing up. Fold the sides in on the center so that all the elastic is concealed and the sheet is shaped like a rectangle. Fold the rectangle into halves or into thirds, depending on how small you need the sheet to be for storage.
