How to fold your clothes to save time, money, space & wrinkles!
/One of the most intriguing things Marie Kondo introduced in her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and her television series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo was the way she advised us all to fold and store our clothing. According to Kondo, our clothing is best suited to be folded standing upright. In fact, Kondo says folding your clothes vertically can save time, save space and increase the longevity of your clothes.
Vertical folding saves time. When you open a drawer of folded items stacked one on top another, you can only see the items on top. Now, imagine opening a drawer of items folded vertically and stored in rows. At that point, you can see all of your items at once. Making wardrobe decisions is much easier and even much faster when you can see everything at once. Keeping all of your clothes in eyesight can also potentially save you money simply because you’ll be more cognizant of what you have when making new clothing purchases. This might just prove to be a very important time saver indeed since one study showed women spend over eight years of their lives shopping!
Vertical folding saves space. Hanging clothes might seem like less work, but if you’re in the market to maximize space, folding your clothing vertically is the answer. According to Kondo, you can fit 20 to 40 folded items the same amount of space it would take to hang ten items. When handling your clothes this carefully, you’ll also find it easier to discern which clothes don’t spark joy and therefore must go. When you spend time lovingly folding an item of clothing that you don’t actually love, it becomes apparent quickly. By being more decisive about what to keep, you’ll save even more space. That decisiveness might even help you save money since the average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually.
Related: My ten by ten wardrobe experiment
Vertical folding saves wrinkles. One of the more counterintuitive things to consider when folding clothes vertically involves wrinkles. When folding things vertically, your clothes will be more compact which actually means more folds. But guess what? That doesn’t actually equal more wrinkles. Actually, wrinkles are caused by pressure and the weight of clothes folded and stacked. That pressure results in more wrinkles than clothes folded compactly and stored standing on their own. This tiny little difference also results in clothes that will last longer for the same reason.
How to fold
Can you believe that each item you own has a sweet spot of being folded and stored? It’s true. Each item is unique depending on its size and material. Luckily, this particular folding method fits everything once you get the hang of it.
Related: The Biggest Misconceptions regarding the KonMari Method™
The first thing to consider when folding your clothes is the height of your space. Your clothes, when vertically folded, will need to be as tall as your space. Your goal at the end of the fold is going to be a nice, smooth rectangle that stands up and fits in your drawer so it’s important to visualize the end result.
Next, you’ll start with a flat item, ensuring to smooth the wrinkles out. This step also allows you the opportunity to inspect your clothing and spot any places that have been frayed, stained or worn.
Now you’ll fold each side of the item lengthwise toward the center. If there are sleeves, fold them in similarly so that you end up with a long, skinny rectangle. Now you’ll fold the short end of your rectangle in half toward the other short end. Repeat this process again, folding short end to short end again either in halves or in thirds. At this point, you’ll most likely be left with your treasured item in a perfectly balanced, upright rectangle ready to be stored neatly in your drawer. Different materials, sizes and thicknesses of items will determine how to adjust the folds but every item has a sweet spot that helps it be stored just right!
When it comes to items like socks and undergarments, the KonMari Method™ again has it figured out. Socks and stockings should be able to rest in your drawer. That is, we are going to ensure the elastic and fabric aren’t being worn out while sitting in a drawer. Just like you would do with your other items, you’ll fold them neatly into a rectangle buy folding them over onto each other, then in halves or thirds.
Folding undergarments can really help you understand how each item has its sweet spot since they seem to be trickier. Lay your underwear flat, then fold in half lengthwise (crotch to waistband). Next, fold widthwise half into the center and then the other half into the center. Finally, one more fold bottom to top will usually do the trick to create a lovely rectangle that makes your undergarments easy to store and easy to pick out.
So often our drawers are masking an unruly mess of clothes. The idea of opening those drawers or trying to find something specific in them certainly does not spark joy. In fact, research shows it might even be raising your cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Imagine instead your drawers hiding neat rows of clothing that fully utilize the space and are also pleasing to the eye each and every time you open a drawer. Drawer dividers can help your clothes stay in their row and look nice and neat. Give the KonMari Method™ for folding and storing clothes a try and see how it improves your clothing experience!