See if you can relate to this laundry scenario:

You have 5+ loads of clothes that must be washed today.  You have a 5 minute break in your schedule, so now is the perfect time to roll the laundry (take the clean, dry load out of the dryer, put the wet clothes on to tumble and put a new, dirty load in the washer).

You take the clothes from the dryer and toss them onto the bed.  You’ve got time to put the wet clothes in the dryer and start a fresh load in the washer.

But what about the clean clothes you’ve put on the bed?  You don’t possibly have time to fold them right now.

You can certainly choose not to fold them right now, but that’s going to create one cold, wrinkly pile of clothes you’ll have to deal with later.

So just deal with them now.  Here is a quick way when you don’t have much time.

(Click on the picture to see exactly what is in each pile.)

Underwear and Socks

Put all of the underwear in a pile and all of the socks into a separate pile.  These two items don’t need to be folded immediately, as they can be wrinkly and it really won’t matter.

Shirts and T-shirts

Hold the t-shirt by the shoulder seams and give it a good flap to get out the initial wrinkles.  Then lay it flat on the bed.  Repeat this same process with every t-shirt in the basket.  Simply lay them on top of one another.  They’ll appear slightly wrinkled but they’ll be fine once you fold them.

If it’s a shirt that needs to be hung on a hanger, lay them flat on your folding surface or bed in a single layer only.  Don’t put another shirt on top of it.

Jeans and Pants

If your load consists of jeans, take one pair out at the time.  Hold it by the waistband and give it a good, hard flap.  Then lay it out flat on your folding surface.  You can lay several pairs on top of one another without causing them to become wrinkly.  Follow the same method for most any pair of long pants or shorts.

Sheets and Towels

I personally cannot stand to fold wrinkly sheets, so I pull them out quickly and just lay them flat.  Interestingly enough, I can deal pretty easily with wrinkly towels, so I just leave them until I can work them in later in the day or evening.

If you could care less about wrinkly towels or sheets, simply leave them until later.

Now What?

So you now have these piles of clothes lying all over your folding surface or bed.  So now what?

Well, you’ll have to fold them.

Laying them out this way only buys you time if you have to get the next load of laundry going.  Unfortunately, it does not save you the trouble of folding them or the even more dreaded task of getting them put away.

How Often Should You Use This Method?

Choice #1:
Sparingly.

I do this maybe once or twice a week, at the most.  I don’t want to get in the habit of doing clothes with this method because it’s one of the few habits I have going for me these days!

When I do use this method, I have all of them waiting for me when I come upstairs for the evening and then I have to spend the time folding them and putting them away because they are on my bed.  And that makes me want to cry, because my bed is just calling for me to come get in it.

So I try really hard to get them all folded and put away prior to 4pm every day.

Choice #2:
Weekly.

Maybe you are a wash-once-a-week type of laundress.  If that’s the case, you may choose to save all of the folding until all of the loads are completed.  Turn on your favorite show from the DVR and fold away.

So what do you do when you have to move the laundry along but don’t have time to fold?

Stain Removal and How to Fold Laundry seem to be the biggest items people are looking for here at Mama’s Laundry Talk.  A large percentage of the readers here have an immediate issue in which they are looking for a solution.

So I’ve spent quite a bit of time this week making Mama’s a little easier to navigate.  You’ll notice in the menu bar that I’ve added those two popular categories: Stain Removal and How to Fold Laundry.

Here you’ll find links with detailed information about removing various stains and Mama’s preferred way to fold clothes.  There were a few gems in there that I forgot writing!

So click on up there and see if there are a few new-to-you posts also.

Do you have a type of stain that’s not listed?  Or have an article of clothing you’d like to fold differently?

Leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Footed pajamas are one of those clothing articles you just sort of wad up and hope it stays “folded.”  If this has been your usual folding method for these, your stack probably looks like this:

I’m always looking and experimenting to find a better way to streamline my laundry process and my other work around the house.  I have found that this method is the most efficient for folding those cumbersome footed pajamas.

How to Fold Footed Pajamas

Footed pajamas fold easiest if you zip them first.  This step only adds about 3 seconds on to the total folding time, so go ahead and zip.

Next, fold the pajamas back shoulder to back shoulder.  Now give them a good flap to get the big wrinkles out.  Then lay the pajamas down on your folding table and smooth them out with you hands.  Make sure the feet are aligned.

Remember that the goal of any folding project is to make your item into a square or rectangle. It will stack easier and just look better.

So to do this with footed pajamas, fold the arms in with the body of the pajamas.  Then fold the bottom portion of the pajamas about a third of the way towards the middle.

Now fold the top portion down so it meets the feet.  Smooth flat again with your hands if needed to remove wrinkles.

Finally, fold the pajamas in half from right to left.  And your left with nice, neat pajamas.  So much better!

This Spring, my husband and I turned our bonus room into a bedroom for two of our girls. While it is a great space for a bedroom, it lacks a closet.  I can see that as they get older, we’re going to have a figure out a solution for hanging clothes.  In the meantime, their nice dresses are hung in my boy’s room.

My girls often wear knit play dresses.  Since we are currently short on closet space, I fold them and store in their dresser drawers.

A dress or a skirt needs a special folding technique in order not to wrinkle. Use this method for great results.

How to Fold a Dress

Holding the dress by the shoulders, fold the shoulders back to back.

While holding the shoulders with one hand, find the seaming along the sides of the dress and align them side by side. Now give the dress a good flap to shake out any wrinkles.

Lay the dress down on your folding table and smooth out the top and the skirt area with your hands.  The dress should now be folded back on itself.

You’ll see that if you just fold the top half down, the skirt is left to go everywhere and it will get wrinkly if you don’t fold it in a different manner.

So to avoid the wrinkle, fold the bottom third of the skirt portion towards the middle and smooth with your hands.

Now fold the top third of the skirt portion down and smooth with your hands.

If the dress is for a toddler girl, simply fold the top of the dress onto the skirt.

If the dress is for an older girl, it is best to fold in thirds.  After folding the skirt on itself, fold the entire skirt portion towards the middle of the dress and then fold the top portion down to form a nice rectangle.

How to Fold a Skirt

Folding a skirt is just like folding a dress, except easier since there is no top portion to deal with.

While holding the skirt by the waistband, fold it back on itself.

Find the seaming along the side of the skirt and align them side by side.  Give the dress a good flap to eliminate any wrinkles.

Lay the skirt on your folding table and smooth with your hands.

Fold the bottom third towards the middle of the skirt and smooth with your hands.

Fold the top portion towards the middle of the skirt and smooth flat again.

Depending upon the size and length of your drawer, either fold in half or fold in thirds.

Don’t you love it when all of your clothes are folded in a nice neat stack that doesn’t fall over on the shelf?

I sure do.

Whether you store your shorts in a drawer or keep them on a shelf, here is a sure-fire way to keep them nice and neat.

Folding shorts is very similar to folding long pants or jeans –just easier.  And since there is less fabric to deal with, you can fit more on the shelf or drawer.

Remember that the goal of folding is to fold items into a nice neat square.

How to Fold Shorts

Holding the pair of shorts by the waistband, give them a good hard flap to eliminate the preliminary wrinkles.

While still holding them with both hands, fold them so the back pocket is touching the other back pocket.

Now holding them by the fly or crotch of the pants, give them another nice hard flap to de-wrinkle and line up the seams.

Lay them down on your folding table and smooth with your hands.

Almost all shorts require that you fold the fly/crotch in on the pants so they will fold easily. Fold the crotch in on itself so it creates a rectangle of sorts.  Smooth again.

Now simply fold in half and smooth again if needed.

Stacking Shorts

To get shorts to stack neatly in the drawer or on the shelf, stack with the waistbands facing opposite directions.  For example, when stacking folded shorts place one pair with waistband on the left.  The next pair should have the waistband on the right, and so on.

This ensures the stack is nice, smooth and sturdy.

Interested in How to Fold more items in your closet?

• How to Fold: Socks
• How to Fold: Underwear
• How to Fold: Men’s Boxers
• How to Fold: T-Shirts
• How to Fold: Children’s 2-Piece Pajamas
• How to Fold: Hand Towels
• How to Fold: Bath Towels
• How to Fold: Beach Towels
• How to Fold: Crib Mattress Pads
• How to Fold: Crib Sheets
• How to Fold: Long-Sleeved Shirts and Sweatshirts
• How to Fold: Long Pants and Jeans

To keep long pants and jeans looking as wrinkle-free as possible, it is best to hang them on a strut hanger in the closet.  However, not all of us have ample closet space.

So for us, that means long pants need to be folded and put either in a drawer or on a shelf.  But what is the best way to fold long pants or jeans?

Here is Mama’s method for folding pants:

While holding the pants by the waistband, give them a good flap to get a large portion of the wrinkles out.

Then put your hands in both pockets and smooth them down.  Pants fold much easier and look more finished if the pockets are smoothed inside.

Holding the pants by the waistband, fold them back on themselves – back pocket to back pocket.

Continue to hold the pants by the folded waistband with one hand and with your other hand, hold the pants by the crotch.

Now give them another good flap to get out the wrinkles and make them fold easier.

Place them on your folding table and smooth flat with your hands.

To create the cleanest folding lines, you’ll need to fold the crotch of the pants back on itself.  This will help you create a square shape as we fold the pants.

Remember that the goal of folding is to make an item into a square-like shape.  It will fit in your drawers easier and they will stack easier if you are storing them on a shelf.

Now you have a decision.  Depending upon where you are storing your pants – drawer or shelf – you need to either fold them in half or fold them in thirds.  Pick whichever method makes the most sense for your storage space.

Folding Long Pants in Half

After folding in the crotch of the pants, smooth the pants one more time to remove wrinkles.

Place one hand in the middle of the pants while folding the hem of the pants up to the waistband.  Smooth out wrinkles one last time with your hands.

Folding Long Pants in Thirds

I love to fold items in thirds since they look so much better on the shelf.  And clothing stacks really well when folded in thirds.

After folding in the crotch of the pants, smooth the pants one more time to remove wrinkles.

Fold the hem of the pants up towards the crotch and smooth flat.

Now fold the waistband of the pants down to the folded edge you just created.  Smooth flat again.

Stacking Long Pants or Jeans

If you have ever stacked pants, you know that the stack becomes lop-sided quickly because of the bulky waistbands sitting on one another.  And it also makes it hard to store more than a few pairs of pants in a dresser drawer.

To avoid this and make your stack look nice and neat, alternate the waistbands when stacking.  Simply turn every other waistband the opposite way.  Since you’ve folded them in nice neat squares, your stack of pants will be more sturdy and look oh so lovely sitting on your shelf.

Interested in How to Fold other items?

• How to Fold: Socks
• How to Fold: Underwear
• How to Fold: Men’s Boxers
• How to Fold: T-Shirts
• How to Fold: Children’s 2-Piece Pajamas
• How to Fold: Hand Towels
• How to Fold: Bath Towels
• How to Fold: Beach Towels
• How to Fold: Crib Mattress Pads
• How to Fold: Crib Sheets

There are several ways to fold long-sleeved shirts and sweatshirts.  In my experience, folding them in this manner leaves them as wrinkle-free as possible while in the drawer.

Remember that the goal of folding is 1) to use as few folds as possible to prevent wrinkles and 2) fold like items as uniformly as possible so they don’t slide around in the drawer and stack easily.

Start with the shirt lying face down on your folding surface.  You should be looking at the back of the shirt.  Smooth out the shirt’s surface with your hands to remove as many wrinkles as possible.

Fold the left side of the shirt towards the middle, stopping right before you get to the collar.

Now fold the sleeve back on itself and smooth the shirt flat with your hands.

Create the same fold on the right side of the shirt, bringing in the right side towards the middle.

Fold the right sleeve back on itself and smooth the shirt flat again.

Using your hand as a guide, fold the shirt in half one time.  Straighten and smooth as needed for a finished look.

Hint: If you store long-sleeved shirts and sweatshirts together, always put the sweatshirts on the bottom of the stack.  The sweatshirts are heavier than t-shirts.  If the t-shirts go on the bottom of the pile, they will wrinkle easier from the weight of the sweatshirt sitting on top.

Interested in How to Fold other items?

• How to Fold: Socks
• How to Fold: Underwear
• How to Fold: Men’s Boxers
• How to Fold: T-Shirts
• How to Fold: Children’s 2-Piece Pajamas
• How to Fold: Hand Towels
• How to Fold: Bath Towels
• How to Fold: Beach Towels
• How to Fold: Crib Mattress Pads
• How to Fold: Crib Sheets

I’m having an end-of-pregnancy moment of insanity.

From what I recall, I was folding towels on the bed one evening.  Folding them on my very pregnant belly.  I told my husband how convenient this ridiculously large belly was in folding some clothes and he suggested I make a funny video.

And here we are.

So this was meant to be funny and light-hearted and in no way an informational video.  And it will probably only be humorous to pregnant women.  So I apologize to the rest of you!

I am sure I will highly regret this in the morning.  So no tomatoes, please.

And just for the record, the camera does not add 20 pounds to pregnant women.  It adds at least 30…

In my laundry routine, it works best for me to fold clothes as quickly as they come out of the dryer.  I know there are those people that wash several loads in a day and then fold them all in the evening.  But  I’ve never figured out how to make them not wrinkle in that scenario.  And I hate wrinkly clothes.  So I stick to folding them as they leave the dryer.

It takes me between 6 and 10 minutes to fold a normal load of clothes for my family (I’ve even timed it!).  This ‘normal’ load of clothes is a large load – not exceptionally large where my washer/dryer is packed, but not a medium-sized load either.  And when I’ve got my housekeeping groove on, it might only take 4 or 5 minutes.

These are the steps I take to make this go so quickly:

1. As soon as the dryer stops, I empty the load of clothes into a basket and take them to my folding spot. 
   
2. I pull items off of the top of the basket.  If it is a pair of underwear or a sock, they are tossed in their own pile to deal with at the end. 

3. I try to find my husband’s shirts or the kids’ nice clothes that I need to hang up first.  I pull those out and loosely fold in half and place in a pile by themselves.
    
4. Then I continue through the basket, folding tshirts, pants or pajamas as I find them.

5. As I fold them, I go ahead and separate them into each person’s own pile.  This takes absolutely no extra time and is a vital step, especially if your children put away their own clothes.
   So in the above picture, all of my son’s clothes are in the top row, the baby’s clothes are in the middle row and my daughter’s clothes are in the bottom row.  (No, I usually do not put them in rows…this was only for the picture!)

6. The only folding left to do now is to quickly fold the socks and the underwear that are in their own piles.  No one in my family cares if those are wrinkled, so I leave them until last.
   

As soon as I am finished folding, I hang up everything that requires it.  If I don’t go ahead and put away the hang ups, they are likely to get sat on or pulled off the bed by the baby.  That defeats the purpose of having them set aside to not wrinkle.  So I go ahead and hang them up and save myself that headache.

Usually it is the end of the day before I am able to get clothes put away.  I put away my clothes, my husband’s and the baby’s.  My 5 year old son puts his away and assists my 3 year old daughter in sorting hers in the right drawer. Since they are already sorted by child and by garment, put away is (usually) a breeze.

How does this work in your family?  I always love to hear how other mothers and families do things differently.  Let us know in the comments…

How thrilled I am that we are finally to some warmer weather! 

And with warm weather comes a whole host of fun things: playing in the sprinkler, going to the pool, day trips to the beach, weekends at the lake.  And all of those fun water things involve beach towels!

But beach towels can be a bear to fold.  They’re bigger than the normal bath towel which is great when you’re getting out of the pool.  But it’s a pain when you’re trying to fold them so they fit on the shelf when not in use.

I’ve tried several methods, and this seems to work the best for me.

Fold the beach towel in half.

Now, we’re going to use the same technique as when we fold bath towels.  Fold the bottom third of the towel towards the middle and smooth out the wrinkles.

Fold the top third of the beach towel down so it meets the bottom edge.

Finally, fold the towel from the right side to the left.

Depending upon the towel’s length, you can fold in half for the final fold or in thirds.  If it is an exceptionally large beach towel, I definitely fold in thirds to take up less space on the shelf.

And then smooth the wrinkles out to complete the fold.

If you’re folding beach towels using this method, they will not stack well on top of your folded bath towels.  However, they will stack neatly on top of other beach towels folded in the same manner.

And you already have a designated spot in your linen closet just for beach towels anyway, right?  This beach towel fold will only make it more straight and neat!

Mama’s How to Fold Series