This is a quick tutorial for how to fold bath towels for organized cupboards and maximum storage.
Today I’m going to show you a quick tutorial for how to fold bath towels. I have folded my towels like this for many year and their are lots of reasons I prefer this method. I will tell you those at the end, let’s get to the tutorial.
Step 1: Lay the bath towel flat, or hold it in your hands with one of the short sides, at the top.
Step 2: Fold the towel in half the long way.
This will make the towel long and skinny.
Step 3: Fold the towel in half again, but this time fold it top to bottom.
You should have a narrow rectangular shape towel at this point.
Step 4: Fold the top of the towel down 1/3 of the way, not all the way to the bottom.
The towel should now look like this.
Step 5: Now take the top half of the towel (the part you just folded into a third) and fold it in half.
The towel will look like this when you are done.
I love my towels being folded like this for lots of reasons, but I wanted to give you the to main reason:
- Folding them like this makes the towels very narrow, which makes them easier to store in the cupboard/closet, and it keeps your cupboards very organized.
- They are also easy to take out of the cupboard and hang on the towel rack. Instead of refolding them to hang, all you have to do is unfold the last 2 steps and then it’s ready to be hung up!
Connie says
Hi Anna, I, too, have a favorite way to fold towel that works well on any size towel. I’ve used it for years and I can’t remember who taught me. Hopefully I can describe enough that its understandable. With the towel flat, take one side edge of the towel and fold it two-thirds of the way over the towel. Take the remaining one-third and fold over your first fold. Your towel is not only one-third of its original size but has no side edge visible leaving both sides showing the “soft fold’. Now fold it in half, top to bottom. Now fold in half again, still top to bottom. Continue until your towel is completely folded. I say this because we use the bath sheet size towels as well as large towels, hand towels, wash cloths, etc. and this works on any size towel. Like with your method, they are narrow and take less shelf space yet need no refolding when ready to hang. I like mine to hang with no side edges of the towel seen, just the soft folds. So, this is just a possible second method for those who might like to try it. I always seem to be challenged when it comes to linen closet space. This house has two linen closets…both of which are upstairs. Sounds good, huh? Well, the master is on the main and I refuse to walk upstairs when I need a clean wash cloth so my husband took what was a small coat closet and fitted it with shelves. This closet was right across for the bedroom door and is perfect!
Keep up the good work. I love your great ideas and look forward to many more in 2014. Wishing you a healthy, happy 2014.
Kathleen says
Hey that’s the way I fold mine. It is so much easier and looks great. In fact I’m so bad I have to restrain myself from refolding towels in friends’ bathrooms.
Patricia says
I fold mine very similar. We have rental cabins and I like to put the extra towels in “sets”. I fold the towel in half the long way and then again the same way. Fold the hand towel in half the long way, then in half the short way (so it’s the same size as the bath towel) place it in the middle of the folded bath towel. Now fold the washcloth in half, lay them both on the bath towel and fold both sides of the bath towel over the hand towel and the washcloth. Voila! This takes up even less space in the linen closet and when someone takes a set, they have all they need.
Mimi Moseley says
I have been doing it all wrong all these years. THANKS for this!
Sharon says
Great tutorial! I’m eager to refold my towels now.
Leah Haag says
Anna, I was reading your posts about staining the outside brick. My house is a dirty, cream colored brick that looks dated to put it kindly. Your inside fireplace brick resulted in a varied brick color appearance so was this the result of staining over the brick with just one color or would it be possible to brush on several different shades of a pretty cream, tan, and brown over random bricks? I’m so tired of our cream colored ranch style house, and a lot of the newer homes have a more interesting look because of the random colors. Any info is appreciated. Thanks, Leah
Anna says
That’s the beauty about staining brick, you can do whatever you want. 🙂 I think even just going with a darker color might give your house a more interesting look. Here are some before and afters that other readers have done, one of them is even a house: https://askannamoseley.com/how-to-update-brick/.
Judy says
I have a narrow linen cupboard & no towel rack for bath towels so I find that if I fold them in half crosswise (top edge meeting bottom edge), then in half again the same direction, then turn them sideways & fold in thirds they fit perfectly in 2 side-by-side stacks, plus It’s easy to do without benefit of a folding table.
Mel says
I prefer to only see one fluffy fold in my linen closet for each towel. I fold the towel in half (having the short sides meet each other). Then while holding the towel with the fold up, I fold each side in a third of the way. Last fold in half again top to bottom. I think folding them in this fashion makes the towels look fluffier if displaying or the linen closet look tidier. It is also easy to do in the air without a table. Just my two cents.
Carla Peterson says
I fold mine by folding 1/3 from the left, 1/3 from the right making a long strip and then folding in half top to bottom and then again top; to bottom.
I like my towels hung with the long strip so I only have to unfold back to the long strip and hang it. It also fits well in my closet.
Angela says
That’s how I fold, and I can’t remember who taught me! Maybe I learned it from buying towels in stores when I went to college. Funny because my mom says she doesn’t fold like I do.
Margaret says
I do essentially the same thing, but I start with the towel folded into 1/3. Then when taken from the closet it really is ready to hang on the towel bar. Since many towels have a decorative feature in the center of a towel, this works even better for the towel to be in 1/3 and it prevents a crease across the decoration.
Barbara says
I have one little tiny cupboard for towels AND sheets. I fold my towels lengthwise and then roll them. It takes much less space!