Every time I wash the fitted bottom sheets, they “capture” anything which was put into the machine with them in their pockets. A pair of sheets ends up as a tangled ball.
Drying them is even worse: they capture the other items in their pockets, and at the end of the cycle, I always end up with a ball of damp clothes crammed inside them.
Of course, the obvious solution is to wash them seperately, but that seems an awful waste to run the washing machine with only one item inside.
Solutions?
Put it in a large mesh bag like you would use for nylons? Put it in a pillow case and the pillow case shut? I just wash them with other stuff, and dry them seperately.
Mebbe it’s how I load my machine, which really has more to do with precluding off-balance than what you’re experiencing. I take the sheet and gather it with my hands so I’ve got the majority of it, and then loosely wrap it around the agitator before filling the tub. I also separate all the clothes from any washer tangles before starting the dryer.
I’ve always just washed the entire sheet set (flat sheet, fitted sheet, pillowcases, maybe mattress pad/bedskirt) in the same load, and have never had your experience – nothing to bunch up, I guess!
I’m still trying to teach Mr. S how to fold a fitted sheet, but he just doesn’t get it.
Don’t leave all of inept laundry folders hanging! How do you properly fold a fitted sheet?
I know! I know!
Put one “pocket,” seam side up, over your fist. Pick up each pocket, in order, placing them over the first. They will be: inside up, outside up, inside up, outside up. Hold these in one hand by their corners, then, find the side with seperate folds. Hold these together about 4 inches from the edge. Shake. (Check center for socks etc.) Finish by folding as usual.
Yes, something like that. (It’s easier to demonstrate than to describe.) I go a little further and use my finger in the very corner of the pocket to line things up. Then the trick is to use the corner of the pocket to determine those two folded edges, rather than the outside stitched edge. You have to make a little fold over on those two sides to get it to come out nice and straight.
Coincidences are funny things. Never in my life [or time registered here] have I seen a thread about fitted sheets on the dope. Today I bought a fitted sheet for my bed (first time i’ve ever bought bedding). There’s a thread on how to wash fitted sheets.
Do I have a guardian angel, catering for my trivial needs? Or is this just another one of those uncanny coincidences?
Yeah, what she said.
Lobsang Yes, your G. A. called to say you’d need this information.
I hear you’re looking for leather pants now. Care instructions will be posted next week. ( or not) 
Hey that’s information I could use since that, er, time I brought souvenirs from Italy 
I usually put it in first, and just spread it around the perimeter of the tub, trying to get it as even as possible. By the end of the cycle, all of the items seem to end up on one side, wadded up into the pockets. I always detangle before I put them in the dryer, but they always seem to end up back in the same snarled mess.
My sheets are those with extra-deep pockets . . . maybe that has something to do with it.
My main concern is that by being bunched up the way that they are, they’re not getting really clean.
picunurse’s description of bunching the corners together gave me an idea: I’m going to try clipping the corners closed with plastic clothes pins before I throw them in the wash.
Lobsang, what sort of linens did you buy? Hopefully, you got the “good stuff.” For the life of me, I don’t know how people sleep on those 180 thread count sheets of sandpaper. I’ll admit, I’m spoiled: mine are 600 thread count. Once you sleep on them, you can never go back.
I think they’re worth the extra money. Comfort aside, they’re much more durable. (I’ve seen sets of the cheap stuff fall apart after a few washes.)
You’ll probably need something stronger than a clothes pin. Try rubber banding the 4 corners together, but that will probably trap everything in the middle instead, maybe 2 & 2?
BTW, I’ve seen Egyption cotton sheets like these on Overstock.com before for much less than anywhere else, have you tried them? I’m a little afraid to spend $100 on something sight unseen.