How to Fold Laundry
Step-by-step video modeling guide to folding laundry: smooth clean clothes, fold shirts, pants, and towels, then put each stack away.
How to Fold Laundry: step-by-step guide
Folding laundry is easier when you break it into small, repeatable steps. Watch the video, then follow the written steps below at your own pace. Work on a clean, flat surface such as a bed, table, or counter so you have room to smooth each item out.
Bring the basket of clean, dry laundry to a flat surface and set it on the floor beside you.
Sort the laundry into piles by type: shirts, pants, socks, underwear, and towels. Sorting first means you repeat the same fold many times in a row.
Fold shirts: lay the shirt face down, fold one sleeve and that side toward the middle, repeat on the other side, then fold the bottom up to the collar.
Fold pants: lay them flat, put one leg on top of the other so the pant is one long shape, then fold in half at the knees.
Fold towels: fold the towel in half the long way, in half again, then fold it over once more so it stands in a neat square.
Roll or pair socks by matching two of the same color and tucking one cuff over the other.
Stack each finished pile back in the basket, keeping like items together.
Put the laundry away: shirts and pants in drawers or on shelves, socks and underwear in their own drawer, towels in the bathroom or linen closet.
Helpful tips
- If a shirt is wrinkled, shake it out and smooth it flat with your hands before folding.
- Fold laundry right after the dryer stops so clothes wrinkle less.
- It is fine to fold one pile a day instead of the whole basket at once.
