Folding Your Clothes Like a Pro: The Ultimate Guide to Folding Clothes

If you're anything like the old me, your drawers are probably bursting at the seams with unorganized chaos - or maybe they just are not as nice and tidy as you would want them to be. Maybe there's a few tee shirts here, maybe some sweatpants there… and that's about it. But what if you had more space? What if your clothing was more organized, efficiently using every last inch of drawer real estate? How can we get there? This article will answer all of those questions, and more!

From hanging to folding to storing your clothes, we'll walk you through everything you need to know to master the art of folding your clothes like a pro. With a little practice, you'll be able to triple or even quadruple the amount of clothing you have in your closet. Let's dive in...

Hanging Your Clothing

When it comes to folding, there are two basic ways to organize your clothes: hanging and folding. While both methods offer real benefits, each has its own sets of limitations. Hanging your clothing gives you a lot of flexibility and makes it easy to see everything at a glance.

On the other hand, hanging clothes takes up a lot of space and can be a pain if you have to frequently rearrange your wardrobe. Hanging your clothes is best if you want to keep your wardrobe as minimal as possible. It's also ideal for smaller living spaces, like dorm rooms and small apartments. If you want to keep things as clutter-free as possible, hanging your clothes may be the best way to go.

I'm going to be bold here and say that most of us don't need a 'How to' on hanging our own clothes up, but for the sake of completeness, here is a quick snippet. You can use a wooden hanger or a plastic hanger (or otherwise). Wooden hangers are better if you plan on keeping the clothes for a long time, but most people do not keep their clothes forever, so a plastic hanger would do just fine.

The most important thing is to make sure that your clothes do not touch each other (or at least minimally so). Your clothes will get wrinkled if they are fighting for their own space, and nobody wants wrinkled clothes. You also want to make sure that the hanger is wide enough for your garments. The rule of thumb is that the hanger should be about two inches wider than the clothes themselves.

With that, let's move on to to the main star of the show... folding!

Folding Basics

If hanging your clothes isn't your thing or if you are like most of us, at some point you are going to need to stop hanging your clothes up and start folding them - and oh boy, is folding clothes our speciality here at Foldify. Folding is a great way to maximize your space and organize your wardrobe.

Like hanging, folding does have a few limitations, however. Folding often takes longer than hanging, and you generally have less flexibility with what goes where. But folding does come with a few benefits. For one, it takes up less space than hanging, especially if you're storing your clothing in a dresser or drawer. And with proper folding, it's easy to see everything.

As with any hobby or skill, there are tons of ways to fold your clothing. Some people prefer to fold everything with the fabric facing out, while others prefer to fold with the fabric facing in. Some people fold all of their shirts the same way, while others might fold tees and button-downs differently.

For this "How to", we aren't going to do anything fancy. We just want a repeatable process - on a flat surface - that gives us beautiful-looking folded clothes every time - the same way we do it here at Foldify. We'll have videos attached to every section to make sure you get the hang of it. Sometimes words just aren't as good as seeing it in action.

Shirts and T-Shirts

Let's start off easy and tackle these shirts!

T-shirts

The easiest shirts to fold are T-shirts, since they already have a natural crease down the middle that makes folding easy. First, place your T-shirt facedown (on a flat surface, of course) and bring the right half of the garment to the centre. Then, flip the short sleeve so that it faces the outer edge of the shirt. Do the same thing on the left side. From there, fold the bottom of the shirt about a third of the way. Fold again to create a rectangular shape - and you're done.

This type of folding can come in handy when you want to fold your T-shirts for travel as you can just fold again at the end to further maximise the space in your suitcase. You could also do this for larger-sized T-shirts as well.

Polo shirts

Folding polo shirts is a little different to T-shirts. You'll want to first place the shirt facedown as you did with the T-shirt but make sure you have completely buttoned up all the buttons before doing so. You'll then want to tuck the sleeves into the centre of the back. Do this for both sides.

From there, just fold the shirt in half so that the shoulders are touching. Grab the bottom hem of the shirt and fold the garment either in thirds or in halves. Make sure this fold ends just before meeting the collar. Flip over and you're done!

Dress shirts

You'll find that with dress shirts, it is a game of thirds. Just as before, first place the shirt on its back and make sure all of its buttons are buttoned up on the front. After smoothing the back out, fold the left side of the garment inwards about a third of the way, making sure to keep any wrinkles out. Then, fold the long sleeve into thirds as well. Mirror the same thing on the right side. The folded right sleeve should mostly be on top of the left sleeve.

From there, take the bottom of the shirt and fold it into thirds as well (or in halves if you prefer). Make sure the final fold ends just under the collar. Smooth some of the edges out, flip it over and you're done!

Tank tops

For all of you with tank tops, here is how you fold them nice and easily into a square. They are actually the easier ones of the bunch. So again, let's place the garment facedown before folding it in half, length-wise. Then, all you need to do is fold it the other way and we'll be left with a beautiful square. Easy!

Long-sleeve shirts or cardigans

Although long-sleeve shirts and cardigans may seem a bit daunting (at least they were to me), we can smash them out of the park in just a few steps. First, let's again place the shirt facedown on a flat surface. If there are any buttons (or zippers) on the front, make sure they are buttoned (or zipped) up.

Let's then bring one-third of the left side of the garment into the centre and fold the long sleeve into an "L" shape. Looking at the video might be helpful here. Do the same thing on the right side. Finally, fold the bottom hem of the shirt about a third of the way. Fold it again to meet with the neckline. The garment should now be nicely folded into a beautiful rectangle.

Coats and Jackets

The bulkier clothes can sometimes be a little intimating but never fear, we've got you covered. Just follow along to see how easy it can be!

Sweaters

Sweaters can actually be folded like long-sleeve shirts but just in case you have trouble or wanted to try another approach, I'll also show you this way. As normal, face the sweater facedown on the flat surface. This time, cross the sleeves towards their opposite bottom corners. It's almost like they are hugging each other.

Then, fold the garment in half towards the neckline. For a particularly big or bulky sweater, feel free to fold the bottom hem of the sweater about a third of the way first before completing the final fold. And that's it!

Hoodies

I always found hoodies difficult to fold. The hood always got in the way somehow... until I learnt how to fold them properly, of course! There are multiple ways to do it but we're going to go with the KonMari method - a technique that minimises the amount of space your clothes take up.

First, let's make sure all zippers (if any) have been zipped up. Then, as always, place the hoodie facedown on a smooth surface. Fold each side into their respective vertical thirds, ignoring the sleeves for now. The two sides of the hoodie should be touching each other.

Let's then take the left sleeve and fold it over the middle. Do the same thing with the right sleeve, placing it on top of the left sleeve. Make sure you smooth out the edges as you go. The hoodie should now be looking like a rectangle with the hood sticking out at the top.

Next, you'll want to grab the hood and fold it one time down the jacket's seam line. Make sure any strings are also folded back and neatly lined up. Finally, grab the bottom hem of the jacket and fold it a third of the way up. Fold again to meet the other end - and success! You can now cross hoodies off your list!

Suit jackets

Naturally, with suit jackets, we want to be extra delicate and careful whilst folding to avoid creating any additional wrinkles or creases. Ideally, they are hung up but if that's not possible, folding can be done - just follow along!

First, we want to fold the jacket so that the front is facing out and the two shoulders are touching. Then, we want to place the jacket on a flat surface and fold the bottom of the jacket up to the middle of the jacket, about two-thirds of the way up.

From there, you can just bring the upper edge of the jacket over the top and you're done! Your jacket should now be nicely folded and should not require any further ironing.

Pants and Shorts

Okay, it's time to talk about all of our bottom garments. Let's dig in...

Shorts

First, we fold one side of the shorts in half, vertically - so the garment is creased over the centre seam. Then, we do the same thing on the other side to form a rectangle. To finish, we fold them in half, starting from the bottom edge. You should now be seeing a little flat square that can easily be stored and stacked.

Jeans, chinos and leggings

Good news, we don't deviate too much from the norm here. After all, they're just a long pair of pants. So, as most of you could guess, we first fold the pants in half vertically, so the bottom pockets are facing us.

Placing the pants on a flat surface and aligning each leg, we then fold the middle third of the pants over the upper third section of the trousers. This allows us to simply fold the bottom third section of the pants over the top. Then from there, we tuck the groin seam into the pants and we're done! Perfectly folded trousers once more!

Dress pants

Folding dress pants is all about maintaining the natural creases of the pants and not creating any additional wrinkles. This is why they should never be folded like normal pants and ideally, are ironed, hung and not folded. But sometimes we must, so let's fold these long dangling things.

First, unbutton or undo any zippers and place the pants on a flat surface, smoothing out any wrinkles. Once you find where the creases are, align the legs so that the creases are on the outside of the pants and not poking up in the middle. Of course, we want to make sure the bottom of the pants align and are even to another to ensure we don't create any wayward wrinkles.

Next, grab the bottom cuffs of the pants and bring them up to the waistband, keeping the cuffs flat and aligned with the crease. Smooth out the fabric as you go. For a more compact fold, bring the first fold up to the waistband again and we have success! Your dress pants should now be nicely folded and should not require any further ironing.

Dresses and Skirts

The main goal with these clothes is to achieve a nice narrow rectangle and then it's just a matter of either folding it in halves or thirds to complete. We're smashing it, so let's continue with dresses and skirts!

Casual skirts

Surprisingly, folding skirts isn't all that tough. Here, we are talking about those skirts that maintain a somewhat straight shape and do not flare out. If your skirt does flare out, check out the section below.

For this one, lay your skirt down on a flat surface with the button, zipper or ribbon facing up. Then, grab one side and fold the skirt in half, making sure the seams on both sides line up. Imagine fitting your skirt into a rectangle and fold one side inwards until the skirt fits into that shape.

From here, just fold the bottom edge of the skirt towards the waistline, either in halves or thirds. You might need to fold the skirt in half initially and then fold it in half or thirds again if the skirt is particularly long.

Flared skirts

These are a little bit tricker than normal casual skirts, but they're not too bad. As before, let's place the skirt on a flat surface, smoothing it out as you do. Then, grab the right side and fold it towards the centre. Repeat on the other side.

Now, imagine a rectangle and tuck the outer edges of each side until you achieve this shape. At this point, just copy what you do for a normal casual skirt and fold the bottom edge of the skirt towards the waistline in appropriate sections until it's almost square-shaped.

Casual dresses

Dresses can feel a little daunting because they come in all shapes and sizes, even for me sometimes. However, with practice - and exposure to a lot of them, it becomes much easier.

As always, let's lay the garment on a flat surface and smooth out any wrinkles. Fold the right side of the body of the dress, length-wise, until it aligns with its seam and appears straight. At this point, you should be able to imagine a rectangular shape. Don't worry if the dress is still taking up a lot of space at the moment, we just want a side of the dress to be straight.

From here, fold the excess skirt material of that side back towards the now straight fold. If the skirt fabric now extends past the straight fold again, just fold the excess material back in the opposite direction.

If the dress has sleeves, cross the sleeve of the right side inwards and lay it flat against the body of the dress. Make sure to keep the fold even with the arm seam. If the sleeves are long, you might need to fold the sleeve in thirds so it doesn't go past the waistline of the dress. Smooth out any creases as you go. Repeat this for the other side.

From this point, you should have a narrow rectangular shape with the left sleeve on top of the right sleeve. Now, you can simply fold the dress from the bottom in either halves or thirds, depending on the length and your desired level of compactness.

Delicates

Next up, we have all our delicates and little things. No one likes to talk about them but we can't forget about them, they're important. Ladies first, so without further ado, let's talk about bras...

Bras

There are essentially four easy steps in folding a bra. First, you want to fold one bra up into the other. Then, you want to line up both the back straps and the shoulder straps, making sure they're not twisted. Next, fold the back straps into two sections. Fold it right where

the shoulder strap starts to come down and then fold it again into the cup.

For the final step, fold the shoulder strap into the back of the bra and you're done. Congratulations, you now know how to fold a bra - whether you wear one or not!

Bra camisole

This one certainly had me stuck the first time I encountered it. Is it a bra or is it a shirt? I guess its both! You would think it's tricky but it's not too bad once you know how to do it.

Essentially, we first turn it over on a flat surface with the back showing. Then, we place the bra strings into their respective cups. Fold each side inwards towards the centre, creating a small triangle and ignoring the bra cups for now.

Next, fold the bottom hem of the camisole up to the cups. Then fold the cups onto this fold and you're done! Not too bad, was it?

Panties

Let's stick with the ladies and show how panties should be folded into beautiful squares.

Simply take the right end and fold it towards the centre. Then, take the other end and fold it over the top. Finally, fold it in half. Now, you can easily store them in your drawer, no worries!

Briefs

Moving to the male side of the equation now, folding these is just as easy. First, as always, place them down on a flat surface. Grab the right side and fold it towards the centre as we did with the panties. Repeat the same thing with the left side, folding it over the top, making sure the two edges form a straight line.

This is where we get a little different. We take the waistband and fold the briefs in half. Then, we grab the bottom half of the briefs and tuck it into the waistband until the waistband forms the bottom line of the briefs and we have a beautiful-looking square. Smooth the briefs out one last time and you're done!

Socks

So... this one might be a surprise to a lot of you - and maybe make you a little angry! So, you know how the 'gold' standard is to fold socks into these little tiny sacks... well, we don't really do that. Instead, we fold them into these nice little squares.

We take the two paired socks, line them up neatly and then fold them in half, and then in half again. This way, we maintain the elasticity of the socks and are more easily able to stack and store them in a drawer. We are starting a trend and we like it! #foldify #squaresocks #goodbyesocksacks

Accessories

Because of their sizes, accessories are generally easy to fold. We'll show you why!

Scarves

To begin, let's place the scarf on a flat surface and smooth out all its wrinkles. Then, fold it in half, length-wise. Continue flattening out the creases as you go and then fold the scarf in half in the other direction. Grab the scarf from the other end and do the same thing. Then, continue folding in halves or thirds until it is as compact as you like.

Ties

Folding a tie is surprisingly simple. All you need to do is flatten out any wrinkles on a flat surface and then grab the tie from the smaller edge and roll it up until it's nice and compact. Simple!

Belts

Just as simple as a tie is, belts don't come any easier. Simply put the tip of the belt through the buckle and continue rolling it up until it's compact. That's it!

Miscellaneous

We're nearly there, you're going to be a folding pro in no time! We just have a couple of clothes to go that don't exactly fit into a nice distinct category. You know, things like overalls, aprons and towels.

Overalls

Overalls have a bit of a weird shape but that's okay, there's no stopping us when it comes to folding! First, let's place the overall on a flat surface, smooth it out and then fold it in half with the bottom pockets facing up. Make sure all edges align, including the overall belts.

Tuck in the groin seam so it doesn't stick out. Bring the overall belts towards the pants section and then fold the rest of the overalls towards the bottom edge. Simply fold it again into either halves or thirds and you're done!

Aprons

Another odd shape, but never fear, you've got this. Simply lay it flat on a smooth surface and fold it in half, length-wise, with the outside showing. Fold it in half again in the same direction and it should now have a more rectangular shape.

Flatten out any excess apron strings onto the rectangle and then fold the apron again, this time from the top to the middle. From this point, fold again in either halves or thirds until it is as compact as you like.

Towels

We all know that towels come in all shapes and sizes. The method we'll show you here is essentially the way you can do it for all your towels, no matter the size.

So, first, let's place the towel on a flat surface, with the inside (the 'not so pretty' side) facing up. Fold the left side a third and then fold the right side a third as well, over the top of the left side. Make sure all the edges line up with each other. Then, you can fold the towel in half as many times as you want until it is as small or big as you like.

Wrapping It Up

Folding your clothes like a pro is all about maximizing the space in your drawers (and I guess making things a little prettier). Fold your clothes, and you'll be able to fit more stuff in less space. It may take a little longer to fold your clothes than it does to hang them, but the extra time is worth the payoff of having more space in your drawers.

You don't have to be a master clothes folder to see real benefits from folding your clothes. Even if you're a little messy, it's easy to get your wardrobe under control. All you have to do is follow a few simple tips for folding your clothes, and you'll be on your way to a more organized wardrobe in no time.

Foldify - Wash, Dry & Fold

If you don't want to worry about any of this, let us introduce our wash, dry, and fold service here at Foldify. Fill your personal Foldify bags (which we'll give you for free!) with your laundry and within 24 hours, your clothes will be picked up, washed, dried, and delivered to your doorstep. We even offer an express option where your clothes will receive the same high-quality treatment all within 12 hours with our same-day delivery service.

Foldify your clothes today with our mobile app, available on both the Google Play and Apple store. Send us an email at hello@foldify.com.au if you have any questions (or concerns) at all.

Until next time,

Kyle