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Ratfactor's illustrated guide to folding fitted sheets
One of the times where a video is worth a thousand words and drawings.

https://youtu.be/ckTCocBCUN4

Also, how to fold a tee shirt:

https://youtube.com/shorts/L6HpOO7MlcI

  • laacz
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  • 2 weeks ago
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T-shirt folding is nice et al, but its final size is ok only for normal-sized shirts. With this method XL and larger t-shirts don't fold into neat small things.
  • j_bum
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  • 2 weeks ago
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Honestly the picture guide was easier for me to follow
My mom scolded me when I was young, telling me that I needed to know how to fold fitted sheets because women care about that sort of thing. This made me dread washing sheets.

Turns out that no woman I've dated has cared about whether fitted sheets are folded properly, nor have any of them known how to fold them. You know what they do care about? Cleanliness of sheets.

Bookmarked anyway. Maybe I'll ingrain the method before reaching my deathbed.

Bachelor hack: you don't need to know how to fold fitted sheets if you only have one set of sheets.

> Bachelor hack: you don't need to know how to fold fitted sheets if you only have one set of sheets.

I'm married and only have one set, lol. Honestly I can't understand why you would have more anyways. I only have one bed, why have more sheets than I have beds!?

Remember that in Europe and the UK people don't have access to the type of dryers that Americans use that actually ... get clothes completely dry in a reasonable time period. In fact those sorts of vented dryers that make Americans think that dryers are supposed to actually get clothes dry are being made illegal in the EU:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32...

So we hang clothes outside in good weather, and otherwise use heat-pump washer-dryers to get things partially dry, and then hang them around the house. So you will typically need to sleep while sheets are drying.

Because someone gifts them to you. Or because your SO likes to look at other sheets once in a while. Or because you have no dryer and the sheets do not dry fast enough in winter.
Eastern Europe? I was scolded the same way, but also about ironing underwear, because no women will stay with me if my underwears look ragged.
I fold my fitted sheets in half and then few more times, in my hands while standing. It doesn't look good, but the sheets are always stored out of sight, so I don't care.

But the article is great, especially the ghost joke.

This is perfect!

Every time my wife and I fold our fitted sheets after a wash, after we've fumbled our way with folding it, I say "one day I'll lookup how to do this properly."

Imagine my elation upon seeing this on HN. The article captures the exact level of snark too.

  • Moru
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  • 3 weeks ago
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My trick is to wash the sheets, run in dryer and back on the beds. No folding involved :)
Same. I only have one sheet anyways, so there's no scenario where I would be folding fitted sheets.
Beautifully written and illustrated. Also informative, and funny. Top marks.
I’m not into the repeated cycle of folding clothes or sheets. Just leave them in hampers.
If you never wash your sheets, you never have to fold them.
Really enjoyed the article and the illustrations. Lots of care went into publishing this.
I could not give less of a shit about folding fitted sheets. I ball 'em up individually, and toss 'em into the drawer where they live, next to the folded top sheets.
You are my hero mate!!!
Just wad it up and throw it in the closet.
Jam all the sheets in one pillow case for the set. Folding is…not my thing.
while not at all complete advice, the short version is "put the 'fitted' corners into each other then fold as normal"

all four fitted corners need to be nested inside each other, you do this by folding in half one direction then the other popping them inside out as necessary

ratfactor - you’re doing God’s work by teaching us how to tackle the demon that is the fitted sheet!
I don't fold my clothes because they'll eventually be worn out.
This is the devil’s origami*

* Stolen from the article, but totally apt.

  • baxuz
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  • 3 weeks ago
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I just roll em up
alternatives:

1) hire a fitted sheet folder 2) buy a supply of new fitted sheets (which come folded) and simply discard the used ones.

Alternatively don’t wash or remove the used fitted sheets, simply keep putting your new fitted sheets over the already-installed ones. When this becomes too bulky, discard your existing mattress and buy a new one and start fresh.

An excellent explainer article!
Why would you wash a fitted sheet if it was not immediately going back on the bed? I don’t think I’ve ever had to fold a fitted sheet…
It's easy to accidentally accumulate more than you need. E.g., when I got married we each were previously living our own lives. Big things like mattresses we consolidated, but an extra set of sheets is zero maintenance.

It's also nice to be able to make the bed right away. Maybe you want to take a nap while the clothes finish. Maybe you have time now and not later (and can defer the folding to "later" as well). You could have one of those shitty high-efficiency dryers that incorrectly detects whether your clothes are dry and doesn't have an override to apply heat anyway, requiring 12h of air drying to actually have dry sheets. You could not have a dryer or otherwise prefer air drying more generally.

You could also have an extra set of sheets for a pull-out couch or other sort of place where you don't normally waste the space having the bed always down on the ground.

Etc. Life is complicated. There are 8B of us, and we're not clones.

Because it's for your kid's bed. At 3 AM the previous night, they peed the bed, so you got the other one out and put it on, throwing this one in the laundry room. Then, today you washed it but the one on the bed already is still in good shape.

Or, you have sheets of a few different colors, each paired to a comforter with a different weight that is changed seasonally, or biweekly, depending on the preferences of you and your bedmate.

One reason might be that one owns more than one set...for example, living in an area that has both hot summers and cold winters, we have summer sheets (sateen) and winter sheets (fleece).
  • ufo
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  • 3 weeks ago
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If you plan on drying it on a clothesline.