Let’s face it: We all want everything in our lives to be easier than they already are. If we could design our lives we would wake up and the coffee is already brewed. Breakfast is already made. We would be able to go through our lives without having to spend time on all of the most mundane tasks that litter our day. If you are anything like us, one of the most mundane and dreaded tasks that litter our day and are the bane of our existence is the laundry. In particular, once the laundry comes out of the dryer, you must make that trip from the basket to its final storage space.
Alas, the world is still such that we don’t have robots doing our household chores for us so we have to learn how to do things for ourselves. One of the most important parts of doing your laundry is folding the garments so they are unwrinkled when you want to wear them. Here is how to fold a shirt the best way to keep it wearable whenever you want to look your best.
Remove wrinkles before you fold
We’re not saying you have to iron everything before you put it away, but you don’t want to fold a garment that is full of wrinkles and then shove it in a drawer. Whenever you go back to it, the wrinkles will be ten times worse. If you have time, ironing them will be the best bet in making sure they are in the best possible condition to be stored well. If you are not prepared to break out the ironing board and start watching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show while ironing your t-shirts and sweatshirts, we get it. At the very least, lay them out and smooth the garment out to get the wrinkles smoothed out. If the wrinkles are bad you may have to let it sit for a bit. Wetting it down with a rag is another way to remove the wrinkles, or you can toss it back in the dryer with the wet wrag to steam the wrinkles out. If you are fancy enough, your dryer may even have a setting for this particular job.
Fold it correctly
When you are coming up with ways to fold your shirt, there are a couple options. The first that you probably think of is the simple square fold. Where you simply fold it in half longways, fold the sleeves and then fold it over to create a square. While this is probably the way you have folded your t-shirt as a kid, there is one way that is the go-to and the only way a grown man should fold it. We call it the retail fold. This has the look of the above shirt. This way of folding preserves the collar integrity and shape and keeps the chest visible. The main reason that makes sense is that if you have multiple shirts of the same color, then you can see the front and don’t need to unfold multiple shirts to get the one you’re looking for. Here are the ways you can accomplish the retail fold:
- Lay the shirt face down on a flat surface (don’t forget to smooth out any wrinkles).
- Depending on which shirt you are folding, move between an inch to three inches inside the shoulder seam and fold from that line to the hem of the shirt towards the middle. Repeat the same on the other side.
- Fold the sleeves back so they lay down the center of the shirt.
- Fold the hem end of the shirt to about two-thirds the length of the shirt.
- Fold the collar back to even with the end of the last fold to create a front that is even on both sides and a clear view of the collar and the chest of the shirt.
When this is folded correctly, all shirts should be around the same size and stack nicely. Pro tip: If you fold collared shirts this was,y then alternate the direction you stack them so the collars don’t stack up on one side unevenly and cause the entire stack to tip.
When you need to, roll it
Pk, here is the rub: That style can take up more space than you may have. Of course, we all have preferences so there is another choice you have if you want to save space but keep the wrinkles at a minimum. Roll it. This is a simple way to keep them wearable and also take up less space, especially when you are traveling. To accomplish this technique, do the above process until you get to the fourth step. Instead of folding it up, begin rolling it from the bottom until the collar is on the outside of the roll. Alternatively, if you are worried about keeping the collar protected, fold it the opposite direction so it is on the inside.
We don’t recommend rolling the dress shirts as the collar can be damaged. Whenever possible, collared shirts should be hung.
