Marie Kondo: Basic Folding Method
Raise your hand if you struggle to fold your clothes in an efficient manner. *Shoots hand up in the air*
My husband could kill me with how many dresser drawers I leave open, PJ pants and t-shirts hanging out of them like the sad, limp pieces of clothing they are.
I’ve blamed everything from the size of the dresser to the shape of the clothing to everything in between. But I’m just going to admit it: I hate folding clothes! Phew, that felt good.
It’s a good thing that Marie Kondo has come to the rescue. In 2014, the Japanese organizing expert wrote her best-selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying and Spark Joy in 2014.
However, she didn’t go viral until she recently launched her eight-episode Netflix series called “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.”
In the series, Marie visits everyday families from all over who struggle with letting possessions go or knowing how to organize, and helps them de-clutter their homes (and consequently, their lives).
Besides just wanting to help people get organized, Marie says it goes beyond that. She wants them to really enjoy doing it. Her mission is to “spark joy in the world through tidying.”
Her show has been wildly popular—and for good reason. It’s because her easy-to-follow tips and tricks for organizing and de-cluttering are totally approachable and doable—even for people who can’t stand folding clothes, such as myself.
In fact, folding clothes is one of her specialties. It’s one of the most simple ways to begin organizing your bedroom, as it’s something many people let fall by the wayside.
As with anything, however, she says one of the first steps to getting her infamous folding technique down is to first love your clothing and communicate your support.
“It’s important to convey love for your clothes from the palm of your hands,” Kondo has said. “By doing this you will start to like folding your clothes. Folding is not just making your clothes smaller. It is actually an important opportunity to talk to your clothes and thank them.”
Once you get a feel for the item, you can begin the folding. Marie says you know when a piece of clothing is folded correctly when it stands on its own.
I had no idea clothing could do this (considering my method of folding is to shove everything into a drawer until it fits), but she makes it look so easy. She’s even able to make socks stand on their own!
The key isn’t about trying to make it as compact as possible, she says. You actually want to start off folding it long-ways so it’s a rectangle, then fold it in half, and then into a third, and, well…she explains it much better in the video.
Everything from shirts to camisoles and even socks, check out Marie shares her amazing folding technique below.
How do you fold clothes? Did this video help you or make you want to reorganize your clothing drawers? If you watch her series, what’s your favorite tip you’ve learned thus far in terms of decluttering?