We all know that folding fitted sheets has always been one of the most dreaded chores of the household. How many times have we just rolled it into a big ball, squished it down, and shoved it into the linen closet, then shut the closet door before it pops back out? Sure, twin sized sheets are quite manageable, but those king and queen sizes are longer than our arms, and just getting enough space to fold these babies requires extra effort. There are two types of fitted sheets: the kind with elastic only at the corners, and the kind with elastic around the entire perimeter of the sheet. Mostly deep pocketed sheets have the full elastic.

So why do we bother to fold our fitted sheets? For one thing, it saves space in our linen closets. A properly folded fitted sheet will take up less room than a balled-up one. Doing so will also make our closet more organized, making it easier to find the sheet that we want, when the time comes. Lastly, our sheets will have a more smooth, crisp and kempt look with less wrinkles. When stacked in a linen closet, a dryer sheet tucked in between the sheets can maximize freshness.

To fold a fitted sheet:

1. Find a corner. Put a cupped hand into it to reserve it.

2. Find a second corner. Make sure it is flipped to the same side as the first corner.

3. Bring the two corners together, same side to same side (right side to right side, or wrong side to wrong side).

4. Fold in the sides about the same width as the corner to form a rectangle that will be the half the size of the sheet. Straighten the edges to neaten the rectangle.

5. Fold the rectangle in half along its short edge. Smooth out the surface. Continue folding in half or thirds and smoothing until it is the desired size.

To fold a fully-elasticized fitted sheet:

1. Find a corner. Flip it over until it is inside out and reserve with a finger.

2. Work your way around the edge of the sheet to find another corner. Flip it inside out and reserve with another hand.

3. Bring the two corners together and, with inside seam touching inside seam, put one corner inside the other.

4. Following the top sheet, find a third corner, and with right side to right side, flip it over the first two corners, then line up the seams to neaten it out.

5. Following the top sheet, find the 4th corner and slip the first three under it.

6. Hold all 4 corners with one hand in the original first corner, then grab the loops of elastic and shake to align along the long edges, then the short edges.

7. Lay this down and straighten the edges to form a rectangle.

8. Fold this rectangle in half along its short edge. Smooth out the surface. Continue folding in half or thirds and smoothing until it is the desired size.