How to fold clothes: 5 folding hacks to make life easier

If you don’t know how to effectively fold your belongings, how can you ever hope to have a tidy home?

Getting into the habit of folding all your clothes the same way means that you can then stack, organise and easily locate your belongings. (Just ask Marie Kondo.)

There’s a myriad of ways to fold garments, but here are a few simple methods that will both save space and preserve the item for crease-free wearing.

Jumpers and long-sleeve shirts

Turn your sweater or shirt over so the front is face-down on a flat surface. Flatten out any ripples and wrinkles.

Pinch at the top of the shoulder and the bottom hem, vertically, and fold inwards. Repeat again on both sides.

Turn the sleeves towards the outer edge of the shirt, with the cuffs pointing down to the hem. Flatten the fold. You should now have a rectangle shape.

Fold the bottom of the shirt in to the centre, then fold from the centre to the top with the first section caught inside the fold. Turn over – and you’re done.

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Towels

This process will work on any rectangular-shaped towel.

Lay your towel flat, then fold in half by bringing the long sides together, and lay flat.

Holding the two sides together, fold into the centre.

You should now have a parcel. Next, find where one-third of the parcel approximately is, and fold the right side into that line.

Finally, fold the left side on top. Turn over. It’s ready for stacking.

T-shirts

Here is an easy folding technique that is good for condensing t-shirts for storage in drawers or for packing.

Lay the t-shirt as flat as possible, front-side down.

Pinch at the top of the shoulder and the bottom hem, vertically, and fold inwards. Repeat again on both sides.

Fold the cap of the sleeve on itself so the hem is pointing outwards.

Fold the bottom hem of the shirt one-quarter of the way up. Repeat this fold on itself two more times.

Turn the t-shirt parcel face up. Store in a drawer flat and face up for less wrinkles, or stacked vertically with the fold facing upwards to fit more tops into a smaller space.

Boxer shorts

Lay the boxer shorts flat, front-side up. Fold the right side just past the middle seam, then fold the left the same distance over the top.

Fold the bottom seam in one-third. Then fold from the top down. You should now have a rectangular boxer parcel for easy stacking in a drawer.

Pants

Lay your pants flat, front-side up. Down the centre seam, fold so one pant leg is now flat on top of the other, front sides together.

Bring the ankle seam up to the top of the back pocket, make a fold (approximately where the knee is).

Bring this fold up to the same place at the top of the back pocket.

Turn the pants over. Hey presto, they’re folded.

– Originally appeared on stuff.co.nz