Fitted Sheet Puzzle

I have been doing laundry since high-school.

Mom figured that she didn't want to have to stop what she was doing every time I wanted to wear my favorite jeans and shirts...several times a week.

Being a "clean" kid, i almost never re-wore the same pair of clothes without washing them between use.  It's a habit I still follow today.  I have gotten a "micro-bit" more relaxed, as I will wear my long pj-pant bottoms about a week, and I have a pair of cargo-shorts I will wear a full week at a time after I get home from work and on the weekends.

Anyhows....when Lavie and I got married our first apartment didn't come with washer/drier hookups. So we would sort out the dirties, then haul them down to the wash-room at the end of our apartment house block.  It was a drag, especially in the rain having to take the laundry out, but on the other hand, if we did our at night, usually we could get three washers and then three dryers all going at the same time so wash-time was actually pretty fast.

When we finally got a place that had hookups for our own washer/dryer machines it was very convenient.  And shortly thereafter, I somehow became the sole laundry-washer/folder for the Valca home.  No biggie.  It's pretty relaxing except when I have to put the clothes up.  Don't know why I don't like that task.

The bane of my washing existence isn't what you would normally think.  Not the stains. Not the sorting, not the dealing with the "delicate" items.

Nope.  It's folding those stupid fitted sheets.

You know, the ones with the elastic at the corners that don't lay flat.

The only time I have ever seen them perfectly folded is when the are taken out of their packaging; new.

My technique has generally resulted in something that looks like a bed-roll.

So out of frustration last week after getting the new sheets on our bed, and the old ones washed and dried, I did a Google-search looking for a solution.

And found it.

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet - RealSimple.com

The secret?

Fold the fitted sheet in half, tucking one pair of corners into the other, then square up the sides. Fold as normal. See, it's that "tucking" part I kept missing.

I have a bit more practice to do, but my first attempt was very impressive.

Hurrah!

BTW...who still irons their bed-linens? Anyone?  I noticed that on the tag for our new ones last night "warm-iron if needed."

I couldn't imaging taking the time to iron a full set of bed-sheets. Don't they just get all wrinkled up again once you jump in?  And then doing that for as many sheets/bedrooms you might have?

Whew!  No thank you!

Real Simple has guides to folding a number of other household items as well:

How to Fold Anything - RealSimple.com

Worth looking into and brushing up on your techniques.

--Claus