Tired of messy stacks of sweaters always falling over in your closet? Here’s how to fold sweaters so they stay nice and tidy!
I’ll admit that my laundry folding game has always been all about speed. That definitely gets the laundry done every day and put away, but the results aren’t always the prettiest. A few weeks ago, when I finally got fed up with my closet and decided to go ahead and tackle getting it really organized and functional, I also thought it was time to maybe put a little thought into learning what to do with all of those piles of sweaters we have in there. The sweaters always seemed to be the first thing to get messy-looking after I’ve put the laundry away, so learning how to fold sweaters so that they stay in neat and tidy stacks is something that I’ll be able to enjoy over and over again every time I open the closet up.
Declutter
Of course, my sweater tidy-up started out with a thorough decluttering and having fewer sweaters to deal with gives me extra time to spend making sure that they’re as crisply-folded as possible. Actually, I think overall, the time spent on sweater laundry is probably a lot less now, even with all the extra attention to detail!
If you want to graduate from messy-sweater-dom and live the tidy sweater life with me, here’s how to do it!
How to Fold Sweaters
Start with a clean sweater and a flat surface. I have a nice laundry room counter that I like to use for folding smaller things right out of the dryer, but for my nice sweater display, I like to use a larger surface like a bed or a big kitchen table.
For your first round of folding attempts, it might be a good idea to have a slightly more supportive audience than I did. Just saying.
Flip your sweater over so that the back is facing up and smooth it out.
Fold in one side of the sweater, with the sleeve extending straight out and across the other side, leaving about 2 inches of shoulder space next to the collar.
Then fold the sleeve down again, lining it up with the edge of the body of your sweater.
Related: DIY Fabric Softener for Just Pennies!
Distribute the Bulkiness
Repeat on the other side!
Folding the sleeves like this helps to distribute the bulkiness of the sweater evenly so you avoid areas that are a lot higher than others in the stack, thus compromising the structural integrity of your stack. If you’ve ever quickly folded three or more sweaters and tried to stack them up, you know what I mean. It doesn’t end well.
Now all you need to do is finish it up!
That’s it!
It really works for keeping your sweater shelves or drawers much nicer-looking and easier to navigate when you’re trying to find just the right thing to keep you cozy!
Try it out on your next laundry day!
It’s the little things that make a big difference and this is one little thing that makes a difference to me!
Do you have a sweater organizing trick that works really well that we all need to know about?
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.