Is it that I don’t have a degree in topology, or am I over or undermedicated?
I try to read the (lots of) directions on the web, but cannot seem to do this
successfully. (they laughed at me when I tried to fold a fitted sheet).
Help!
You don’t.
It’s one of the reasons I dislike the things.
It’s rather hard to explain, but very easy to do.
Tuck your hand into one of the pockets from the outside, so the “right” side of the fabric is against your hand. Trace the sheet to the opposite side, and wrap that corner around the one in your hands, lining up the seams. Do the same with the other two corners. Then bring all for corners together, again folding one side over the other. Lay the thing out flat, then fold in thirds lengthwise, then in thirds widthwise.
It’s easier to do it with two people than with one. (In fact, I don’t know how to do it with one.)
Each person holds one end of the sheet, with one corner in each hand.
Coordinate with the other person which way you’re folding.
For the purpose of this exercise, we’ll assume you’ve decided you’ll fold towards your left hand, and the other person will mirror your movements.
You put your left hand into your left-hand corner and poke it up. Other person mirrors you.
You take the right hand corner and turn it inside out. Other person mirrors you.
You put the inside-out right hand corner on top of the poking up left-hand corner, folding the sheet towards your left. Other person mirrors you.
Now, you’re both holding a relatively flat sheet, with the corners tucked neatly. The two of you fold it into smaller sizes. The corners shouldn’t give you any trouble.
OK, the part that goes over the top of the bed is a rectangle. Fold that rectangle as normal, and let the parts that cover the sides of the mattress just sort of tuck themselves into the fold.
I do it more or less the way WhyNot does, but I can’t do it on a bed, I have to hold it (no pictures, I’m not quite that helpful).
- Standing, hold the sheet with one hand inside each of the corner pockets of one long side of the sheet (left hand in the head-end pocket, right hand in the foot-end pocket);
- Bring hands together and nest the two pockets, then with free hand pick up the other end of the sheet and nest those two pockets;
- Bring hands together again and nest all four pockets. You’ll now have a rectangle; 3 corners will be actual corners, and one corner will be the 4 curved pockets, all nested together.
- Fold in half width-wise, then in thirds length-wise. The curved pocket corner is hidden inside.
I’ve always just scrumphed them up. You’re supposed to fold "em?
That is the theory of what I do. The practice is more like: Ball that crap and pull some corners out so it looks more or less square. Then sit on it to make it somewhat flat.
With two people, it is piece of cake.
I’ve done it two ways. The tuck-the-corners-together first way, and then I’ve also spread it out upside-down, adjusted the gathered edges so that basically they’re just folded over and into the field, then folded from there. This method takes longer, but IMHO makes a neater package.
But of course! Dunnit that way for years.
I’m not sure why, but I’m somewhat ashamed that I can post a reply to this…
I open the sheet fully on top of the bed. Then I take both corners of one end and fold them over just enough to make a straight edge. Repeat at other end. You wind up with two straight edges you can then fold together… and then you just fold any way you like to make a nice tight square.
My wife leaves the fitted sheets to me…
I learned from a video similar to that, it’s a great method.
But, especially with sheets sizes queen and larger, I find it very hard to “shake” the sheets flat the way the woman does in the video. It’s much easier for if I do it standing over the bed or at my kitchen table, and then place the sheet on the flat surface after each fold to pull it smooth.
Also, it’s fun when you do it to make sheet puppets with your hands when they are in the corners and mess with the cat.