A Guru's Guide: How to handle fitted sheets

There is no better feeling than getting into bed with fresh, crisp bedding. But what we can’t stand is wrangling with the fitted sheet beforehand. It’s no easy feat when you’re desperately trying to stretch your fitted sheet to each corner of the bed or scrambling to fold the sheets and stuff them into a cupboard.

To help you out, we’ve put together a guide on how to handle your fitted sheets.

How to put on a fitted bed sheet

How many attempts does it take to put the dreaded fitted sheet on until you figure out which side is the long one and which is the short one? Or how many times have you gone to fold one corner over your mattress and the other side just completely pings off?  

Here is the best way to put on a fitted bed sheet:

1. Set out your fitted sheet on top of the mattress so you can determine which side is the long one and which is short. As a general rule of thumb, the corner with the label always goes on the bottom right side of the mattress
2. From there you’ll then need to fit just one corner.
3. Once you’ve successfully put your fitted sheet on one corner of your mattress, then go to the diagonal corner and fit this corner – doing so shouldn’t cause the first one to pop free.
4. Now fit the final two corners. Your fitted sheet should now be securely on your mattress!

Bonus tip! You may be wondering why your fitted sheets won’t stay on. It’s most likely because your fitted sheets are too shallow for your mattress and you need a deep fitted sheet. Deep fitted sheets have extra depth to accommodate deeper mattresses and thick mattress toppers.

How to fold a fitted sheet

Folding your fitted sheets follows the standard procedure of folding in half, then half again, and so on and so forth. This may seem simple, but we all know it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Here is our step-by-step guide to ensure your sheets are folding neatly:

1. Stand holding the sheet lengthwise by the two top corners – the long sides should be running horizontally and the shorter sides vertically
2. Then fold as normal in half by bringing your arms together
3. When doing so, make sure that your right-hand goes over the left so that you’re tucking the elasticated corners into one another
4. Rather than try to flatten the elasticated corners, fold the edges inwards that are naturally ruching - almost creating a border.
5. Repeat steps 2-4, folding in half and tucking the elasticated corners into one another until it fits neatly into your cupboard.

Tips on how to store bedding:

• Make sure your sheets are fully dry before storing
• A handy way to store your fitted sheets and the rest of your bedding is by folding them up neatly and putting them in a pillowcase
• Vacuum-packed bags are a good space-saving way to store your bedding
• Labeled storage bins or shelves also work well to separate your duvet cover from your pillowcases, and your fitted sheets from your mattress protectors

How often should you change your bed sheets?  

Changing the bed sheets is a pretty tedious household chore. Humans are constantly shedding skin and bacteria so we’d recommend changing your sheets every 1-2 weeks to prevent a build-up of dirt and germs.

As you sweat more in Summer, it’s important to stay on top of washing your sheets each week – washing your sheets regularly in Summer also helps with hay fever. Although you sweat less in Winter and can probably get away with leaving it closer to two weeks, it’s still important to not leave it too much longer than bi-weekly.