How To Fold Shirts

Keeping your crisp look while on a business trip involves learning how to fold shirts that you pack in your suitcase. For people who own a lot of shirts and have minimal closet space, knowing how to fold shirts is also a handy skill to have to keep your wardrobe in order. Properly folded shirts add to your credibility at work and mean you can do laundry once or twice a week and keep your shirts looking crisp until you need to wear them. You'll need a few things to fold your shirts, including;

• large flat, clear space
• large laundry basket
• clothes sorting counter

1. Clear the counter. Larger shirts and shirts with long sleeves require more space to fold. How to fold shirts is not difficult, but it only requires practice over time. Cotton shirts are easiest to fold, and jersey shirts need to be placed totally flat on the folding surface for the best results. 
2. Start the wash and dry the shirts using an automatic dryer. If a dryer isn't available, hang the shirts to air dry using a line or drying rack.
3. Take shirts carefully from the drying area. Part of how to fold shirts is to keep the shirt as crisp as possible prior to folding. Remove the shirt from the dryer and hang all the shirts until you begin to fold the shirts. 
4. Close any buttons. When you get ready to fold the shirt, button all the shirts to keep the collars and cuffs in place. Button the front collar flaps and any buttons on Oxford collars. Also, button the front of the shirt to the top collar button. This keeps the collar in place without wrinkling. Button cuffs on long-sleeved shirts and any buttons on any pockets. 
5. Place shirt flat on the clear counter. Once all the buttons are done, place the shirt flat again. Stretch any potential wrinkles with your hands and extend the sleeves out beside the shirt on both sides. 
6. Deal with the sleeves. Folding the sleeves is the trickiest part of how to fold a shirt. Make one fold near the elbow area for long sleeves and at the sleeve seam at the shoulder for short sleeves. This minimizes the wrinkles and confines any potential wrinkling to places that appear natural. 
7. Fold up the sides of the shirt. Once the sleeves are folded, fold over each side of the shirt a few inches to make the shirt more manageable to put into the drawer or on a shelf. 
8. Bring up the bottom of the shirt. With the shirt still flat on the counter, bring up the bottom to touch the top of the shoulders. If your shirt is long, you'll need to fold the shirt so that the top touches the middle. Make a second fold from the middle to bring that part of the shirt up to the shoulders. That means you'll have two folds in the back of the shirt. Make the folds smoothly, so there won't be any wrinkles. 
9. Turn the shirt over and smooth out any wrinkles. Use your hand to do this part of how to fold a shirt neatly. 
10. Don't smash the shirts. Use tissue paper between shirts so that the shirts don't smash the newly-folded shirts on the top. 

Tip:

Make sure the shirt is totally dry before folding. Damp shirts wrinkle easily and the sleeves and shirt front will have permanent wrinkles that will need damping and ironing before you can wear the shirt.