How to Fold a T Shirt

Co-authored by Julie Naylon

Folding your T-shirts can seem like a laborious and time-consuming task, but it doesn’t have to be! You have several options when it comes to folding T-shirts: you can use a basic fold to store your shirts in your dresser, use an Army roll for a compact fold that’s great for packing T-shirts for traveling, or you can pinch 2 points of the T-shirt to form a folded shirt in almost 2 seconds!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Folding Vertically for Storage

1
Lay the T-shirt flat with the front side down. Use a table, the floor, or any other flat surface with enough room to fold and lay the T-shirt face down. A smooth surface will make it easier for you to fold your shirt without wrinkles.^{[1]
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- Keep the shirt face down when you fold it so any logo or image on the front will be visible when it’s folded.
2
Smooth out any wrinkles in the shirt. Folding T-shirts with wrinkles in them will make the wrinkles worse when you put them in a drawer. Run your hands over the surface of the shirt to remove wrinkles and have it lay as flat as possible for a better fold.^{[2]
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- Use an iron for T-shirts with a lot of wrinkles.
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3
Fold the shirt in half vertically from left to right and line up the sleeves. Take one sleeve and bring it across to the other sleeve to fold the shirt in half lengthwise. Use your hands to flatten out wrinkles or creases.^{[3]
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- Line up all of the edges of the shirt so they’re even.
4
Bring both of the sleeves in towards the middle. Take the 2 sleeves that are lined up and fold them into the center of the shirt. Rub your hand along the crease of the fold to prevent wrinkles and to keep the shirt flat.^{[4]
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5
Take the top of the shirt and fold it in half horizontally to connect with the bottom. Keep the edges of the shirt lined up and fold the shirt in half by bringing the top of the shirt to meet the edge of the bottom of the shirt. Run your hands over the shirt to flatten it and eliminate wrinkles.^{[5]
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Tip: Fold the shirt in half again to make it even smaller and take up less space when you store it.
6
Stack your T-shirts vertically to save space. When you’re finished folding your T-shirts, arrange them in your drawer so the collar is standing up. Stack multiple T-shirts so they support each other and stand upright in your drawer or container. Storing your shirts vertically will allow you to utilize your storage space more efficiently.^{[6]
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EXPERT TIP

Julie Naylon
Professional Organizer
Julie Naylon is the Founder of No Wire Hangers, a professional organizing service based out of Los Angeles, California. No Wire Hangers provides residential and office organizing and consulting services. Julie's work has been featured in Daily Candy, Marie Claire, and Architectural Digest, and she has appeared on The Conan O’Brien Show. In 2009 at The Los Angeles Organizing Awards she was honored with “The Most Eco-Friendly Organizer”.

Julie Naylon
Professional Organizer

Try sorting your shirts by style, then by color to keep them organized once they're folded. Group your long sleeve T-shirts together, then short sleeve, then tanks. Then, sort the groups by color from either light to dark or dark to light.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making an Army Roll

1
Use an Army roll to pack for traveling. An Army roll is a great way to fold a T-shirt into a tight, compact roll that takes up the least amount of space possible. When you’re packing a suitcase for travel, use the Army roll to use less space in your luggage.
- The Army roll is the most time-consuming way to fold a T-shirt.
2
Lay the shirt face up on a flat surface. You can use a table, a bed, or any other surface that’s flat and clean. Place the T-shirt face up and use your hands to get rid of any wrinkles or creases that may be on the shirt.^{[7]
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3
Bring the bottom of the shirt up about 3–4 inches (7.6–10.2 cm). Tuck the bottom of the T-shirt up and use your fingers to make a crease in the small fold. Run your hands over the fold to flatten it out. Make sure the roll is an even size across the bottom of the shirt.
- Form a cuff with the bottom of the shirt.
4
Fold the shirt into thirds starting on the left side. Bring the left side in towards the center of the shirt, lining it up with the centerline of the shirt. Then, tuck back the sleeve so that it also is in line with the edge of the shirt.
- Flatten the fold by running your hands along the length of it so it’s more compact.
5
Take the right side of the shirt and fold it in towards the center. Place it on top of the left side so that it overlaps it and line up the edges. Then, fold the sleeve back so it’s in line with the edge. Use your hands to remove any wrinkles.
- The T-shirt should look like 1 long rectangle.
6
Start rolling the shirt at the collar. Roll the T-shirt at the collar and roll the shirt down toward the bottom until it’s fully rolled up. Keep the roll as tight as you can so it’s more compact and will take up less space when you store it.

Tip: Grip the collar of the T-shirt and tuck it under your fingers to start the roll.
7
Tuck the rolled shirt into the fold at the bottom. Unroll the cuff that you formed at the bottom of the T-shirt and tuck the rolled shirt into itself. Fold the cuff over the roll tightly so it’s secure and won’t come undone.^{[8]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using the Pinch Method

1
Lay the T-shirt so it’s sideways and smooth it out with your hands. Use a flat surface and lay the shirt down so that you’re looking at it sideways. Lay it face up with the collar to your right.^{[9]
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- The T-shirt needs to be as flat as possible, so be sure to apply pressure when you smooth out the wrinkles with your hands.
2
Imagine 2 lines that intersect across the middle and the top of the shirt. With the shirt flat on a surface, picture 2 lines: 1 that goes across the middle of the shirt and 1 that goes top to bottom, between the collar and the sleeve.^{[10]
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3
Identify 3 points in the intersecting lines. Think of where the 2 lines that run across the middle and from top to bottom intersect as point A. The top of the shirt between the collar and the sleeve is point B. Point C is at the bottom of the shirt where the line that runs from point B ends.^{[11]
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4
Pinch point A with your left hand and point B with your right. After you’ve identified points A, B, and C, use your fingertips to grip the shirt at points A and B. Make sure you’ve gathered both the top and bottom layer of the fabric of the T-shirt in your pinch.
5
Hold point A in place and bring point B to meet point C. Cross your arms when you bring point B to meet point C. Take hold of both points B and C and uncross your arms. The T-shirt will then be folded, but you may need to do some minor adjustments to line up the edges of the shirt.^{[12]
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- Fold the shirt again in the middle to make the folded T-shirt even more compact.
Tip: With practice, this folding method is the fastest way to fold your T-shirts.