How to Fold Clothes Fast

Co-authored by Marty Stevens-Heebner, SMM-C, CPO®

Last Updated: September 20, 2022 References

Folding clothes is one of those things that a lot of us do on autopilot until one day we finally stop and wonder: is there a better way? The answer is definitely yes! Below we'll teach you how to fold your clothes—shirts, pants, socks, all of them—way faster than before so needlessly long laundry days become a thing of the past.

Part 1

Part 1 of 5:

Folding T-Shirts

1
Start by putting all of your clothes laid out or in a pile to get started. After pulling clothes out of the dryer, pile the clothes on your bed so you can easily get to them and fold them one by one.
2
Have a space cleared so you can fold them well. You'll need a space on your bed big enough to lay pants out flat. This way there's plenty of room to fold each pair of pants properly.

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3
Now that you have a space cleared, take a shirt from the pile. To fold a T-shirt, lay it flat with the front side facing up. Have the shirt facing left and right, with the right side of the shirt pointing towards you,
4
Pinch the shirt at the middle and the top. First, pinch the shirt near the collar, on its right side, in-between the sleeve seam and the collar, with your left hand. Then with your right hand, pinch a point in middle of the shirt horizontally across from where you left hand is.
- To reiterate, you should have your left hand pinching near the collar, and your right hand pinching the middle of the shirt, halfway between the top and bottom, a few inches away from the side seam.
5
Pinch the bottom of the shirt. Swing your left hand under your right arm, still tightly holding the top of the shirt. Pinch the bottom of the shirt, a few inches away from the side seam, so that your left hand is now pinching both the top and bottom of the shirt.
- At first, this movement might take some practice to get right. Eventually, you'll be able to it quickly and seamlessly.
6
Finish the fold. Uncross your arms by swinging your left hand back to its original position. Make sure you're holding both points on the shirt tightly with your hands. As you uncross your arms, lift the shirt slightly with both hands. After your arm are uncrossed, lie the shirt on top of the left side so that it's folded on itself.^{[1]
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- This method, when done at full speed, takes no longer than three seconds to complete. You'll want to practice at a slow speed, making sure to get each step right. Once you've got it down, do each movement swiftly, and you'll be folding fast in no time.
- This type of folding comes handy when you want to fold T-shirts for travel as it keeps the garment flat when folded and allows you to fold quite a few shirts in a very short time.

Part 2

Part 2 of 5:

Folding Pants

1
Start by putting all of your clothes laid out or in a pile to get started. After pulling clothes out of the dryer, pile the clothes on your bed so you can easily get to them and fold them one by one.
2
Have a space cleared so you can fold them well. You'll need a space on your bed big enough to lay pants out flat. This way there's plenty of room to fold each pair of pants properly.
- Having all your clothes in one pile, and a space to fold them close by will speed up your folding process, allowing you to go through each piece of clothing in rapid succession.
3
Lay the pants flat on the space cleared on the bed. Make sure that the buttons are buttoned and the zipper is zippered.
4
Fold one leg onto the other. Now that they are laid flat, take one pant leg and place it on top of the other.
5
Fold the pants in half twice. Grab the waistline and fold it down to the hole for your legs. Then take hold of the knee area and lift so that the pants fold in half once more.
- This method only has three folds, making it simple and easy to do quickly. Once you've got the hang of it, the three folds can be done quickly one after another.

Part 3

Part 3 of 5:

Folding Long-Sleeved Shirts

1
Start by putting all of your clothes laid out or in a pile to get started. After pulling clothes out of the dryer, pile the clothes on your bed so you can easily get to them and fold them one by one.
2
Have a space cleared so you can fold them well. You'll need a space on your bed big enough to lay pants out flat. This way there's plenty of room to fold each pair of pants properly.
- Having all your clothes in one pile, and a space to fold them close by will speed up your folding process, allowing you to go through each piece of clothing in ra
3
Now that you have a space cleared, take a shirt from the pile. Lay it flat with the front side facing down. Have the two sleeves pointing straight out from the shirt.
4
Fold the shirt over. Take one of the sleeves and lay it on the other sleeve. Don't fold the shirt completely half, but just about one third over, so that the folded over sleeve reaches two-thirds of the way across the other sleeve.
5
Fold the sleeve down. Take the folded over sleeve and bring down so that it runs down the length of the shirt vertically.
6
Fold the shirt in half. Grab the edge of the shirt with the sleeve still facing out. Grab it at the top and bottom with two hands and then fold it back on itself so that the edge meets the other sleeve that is folded vertically. Finish this fold by folding the sleeve that is pointed out down so that it runs vertically along the length of the shirt.
7
Finish the fold. Make the shirt a little shorter by folding about six inches of the bottom up the shirt. Then fold the whole thing in half so that the bottom meets the top.^{[2]
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- This method has exactly six folds, and with enough practice, these six folds can be performed in a matter of seconds. Try to get the movements down fast enough that you can grab shirts one after another, fold the sleeves, and fold the whole thing in half, quickly and smoothly.

Part 4

Part 4 of 5:

Folding Socks

1
Gather all of your socks in a pile. To speed up your folding process, get all your socks within reaching distance, in one convenient pile. This will prevent the awkward step of searching for socks in the pile of the rest of your laundry while you're folding.
2
Quickly separate your socks into pairs. Now that you've got all your socks in a big pile, sort through them. Just grab all the socks and throw the pairs on top of each other, giving your sock pile some order.
3
Grab a pair of socks. Take one pair of socks from the pile. Lay them on top of each other on an empty area of the bed, in front of you.
4
Perform the ball fold. With one of the socks lying on top of the other, grab both socks, held together, at the top by the openings. Then just pull one of the socks inside out, so that the side of the sock that is touching the other sock wraps around the other sock. Pull the sock opening all the way down the two socks.^{[3]
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- Not only does this folding method only have one basic step, making it very quick, it also prevents stretching and allows the socks to maintain their shape.

Part 5

Part 5 of 5:

Folding Sleeveless Tops

1
Start by putting all of your clothes laid out or in a pile to get started. After pulling clothes out of the dryer, pile the clothes on your bed so you can easily get to them and fold them one by one.
2
Have a space cleared so you can fold them well. You'll need a space on your bed big enough to lay pants out flat. This way there's plenty of room to fold each pair of pants properly.
3
Lay a sleeveless top on the folding space in front of you. This method works on tank tops and other sleeveless-style shirts. Grab one from the pile and put it in the space you've cleared to fold.
4
Fold the shirt once. Grab the shirt by the top, where the collar is. Pull the top down the shirt, not all the way down, but just far enough so that the entire section of the shirt where your arms would go is folded down.
5
Fold the shirt in thirds. Now you can fold the shirt horizontally into thirds. Take on side and fold it over to the halfway point. Then take the other side and fold it on top of the side you just folded over.
6
Finish the fold. The last step is to fold the whole thing in half twice, vertically. Grab it by the bottom and fold it up in half twice. This make your sleeveless top into a small, easily packed square.^{[4]
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- This folding method has five folds, all of which are very simple and hard to mess up, making it an easy method to perform quickly, without much practice needed.

Expert Q&A

Question

Is it better to roll or fold clothes?

Marty Stevens-Heebner, SMM-C, CPO®
Certified Professional Organizer
Marty Stevens-Heebner was the first Certified Senior Move Manager (SMM-C) in the United States and is Founder and CEO of Clear Home Solutions, a move management and professional organizing company based in southern California. Marty is also a Certified Professional Organizer and a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) through the National Association of Home Builders. She is the President-Elect and is on the board of directors of the National Association for Senior Move Managers, a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, and has been acknowledged as a Hoarding Specialist and ADHD Specialist through the Institute for Challenging Disorganization.

Marty Stevens-Heebner, SMM-C, CPO®

Certified Professional Organizer

Expert Answer

If you're packing for a trip, fold the sleeves and then the sides into the middle of the shirt. Then roll the shirt up from the bottom to prevent wrinkles and save space.
Question

How do I fold a hoodie towel?

Community Answer

Fold the hoodie down and then fold the towel in half. After you do that, fold the towel one more time.
Question

How do you fold a hoodie?

Community Answer

Put the hoodie face down and fold the sleeves back up to the shoulders. Fold the shoulder up to the hood sides. Then fold the bottom up, put the jacket in the hood, and pull the strings to tighten it.