Please tell me what you mean by vertically. I've practically stopped using my dresser except for undies, pajamaas and shorts. I now hang all of my shirts.

I imagine just lining them upright so that they are in the drawer in an accordion style. I do that with my t-shirts.

I fold them by matching up the sides then in half down the front of the shirt, then fold in the sleeves over to the center, then that whole thing get folded top to bottom in half, and in half again. It makes a small surface area and I imagine with a deep enough drawer you could put quite a few in while sit being able to pull out just one, not disturbing the rest.

It's hard to imagine (and describe) folding without a photo, suffice it to say, I'm military so it's a military, basic training style of folding - minus the tweezers! LOL

When Ms. Koopersmith renames the video on her website from "How to fold a wife beater" to something like "How to fold a tank top", I'll be more inclined to check out her organization tips.

Now I'm more curious than ever. I'd better go check out her website.
Thanks Frizzle. I think I get the idea. Kind of like rolling them and stacking them in a row, rather than in a pile. Only instead of rolling they are folded...like vertical filing cabinet files? I do that with rolled up undies and socks and rolled t-shirts. Didn't know if it'd work with other clothes.
I'll go check Ms. Koopersmith out.
Thanks from Lily

Yes, like filing cabinet files! Exactly what I had in my mind but couldn't get out in text!

My DH wears the short sleeved polos for everyday. These are folded in half VERTICALLY, sleeves folded back, and then (long half looking shirt)is folded in half and in half and in half again. These are put in drawer "standing up" so when you pull out the drawer, you see 20 shirts at a glance and may pull out the one you want with out digging in a pile. (Imagine a tall stack of folded shirts laid on the side in the drawer?) We have used this method for more than 10 years. Any odd tank or wifebeater gets folded up the same way and put between the 2 rows. Does this make sense?
In other words you can store a whole lot of shirts and nobody has to dig through the piles to get one, and they stay neater.
Before that, he wore mostly the same thing every day,(Jeans and Tee) so I would fold the jeans on one side of the drawer, and would fold (vertically) the tee. A pair of briefs, handkerchief and socks were laid at the top of the tee and rolled into the shirt. A large rubberband was put around this and stood up in the other side of the drawer.
This saved the Where's my clothes- what am I supposed to wear today- and the sound of drawers and grumpy hubby in the sweet quiet mornings.....

Thanks everyone. I think I've got it..... I'll see if there's a photo anywhere online just to make sure I understand. It makes a lot of sense, especially with shallowish drawers, like I have.
DH wears the same type of shirt and trousers for work everyday, so they are stacked on a shelf, and he only has to pull off the top one, but that's a great idea to stack the trousers and shirts together as a set.
But this idea will work wonderfully for me, as I wear T shirts everyday at home, and long sleeved knits in winter, and I have drawers, not shelves like DH, in my closet.
I already do this with socks and undies, so why did I not think about it before for other clothes.
THanks everyone.

I have never thought or heard about that but I am going to try that tomorrow. I sometimes don't even remember what is on the bottom until I clean out every thing to see what I want to get rid of. I am going to try that with shorts also as I keep them in my drawers. Learn something new everyday.

My hubby wears polo shirts to work every day. Short sleeves most of the year, then he switches to long sleeves during the coldest months.

We have very little closet space. So I fold them. Hubby's dresser has deep drawers. At first, I folded the polos into thirds, as they do in shops. Then I decided that I'd be able to fit more polos into the drawer by folding them only in half. The shirts were laid in three slightly-overlapping columns. When I was caught up on laundry, it was hard to close the drawer, but it worked. Hubby could only see the polos that were on the top of the pile, but it worked.

Before
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After reading one of the suggestions above, I ran downstairs and refolded the polos into fourths, stacking them vertically. Now, hubby can see all the polos at once. I think they fit better than ever. Thanks for the suggestion!

During
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After
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I thought photos would be helpful for some folks.

That looks so good Maryliz, and the photos were really helpful. That is how I imagined it would be.
But I have a problem. Isn't it hard to put one polo back, without mussing up the others? Or do you have them loose enough that you can sort of squash the others along while you slide the new one in? I believe in Talley-Sue's motto.... always make something easier to put away than to get out. Does it apply here? My DH can easily lay a clean shirt on the top of a stack, but I can't quite see him "filing" it without mucking up the others.... a king of jamming session. LOL
I'd do it, because I'd be happy to take the time and I put the washing away usually, But I just can't see him bothering. What do you reckon?
Thanks for explaining it all so well.
Cheers Lily

I don't have the shirts squashed in there. It would be easy to take one out and put it back.

After I posted the photos above, I removed the stacks of shirts and put them back inside the drawer with the last horizontal fold visible at the top, which made it even easier to discern individual shirts. One would see the bottom of the button placket instead of multiple folds and the tails and the collars.

My hubby is not very likely to fold and put away his own shirts. (In his defense, he does help me fold socks & undies in front of the TV, and I handle the rest of the laundry.)

At our house, hubby usually wears each polo once -- all day at work, then maybe while he mows the lawn or does other chores around the house after he gets back home. If he's going to get really dirty, he changes into his "garage clothes." So each polo gets worn once, then washed.

I think that a diligent hubby such as mine could be shown how to refold the shirt so that it could go back into the drawer neatly.

Thanks again Maryliz....now when are you going to come to my house? Hubby actually tried so hard to fold a shirt in front of me last week and it just doesn't come out right...now this is a clever adult male who has operated his own business for 35 years, has multiple engineering and mechanical skills, who can carve a roast to perfection and burp a baby one handed....but fold a shirt? It is, apparently, a physical impossiblity for him. He tried about 3 times, really, and it just ended up crooked and lumpy every time.

But I do fold and put away the clean washing, and if he wears something that can be worn again, it gets hung on a hook, not put back, so I'm thinking this might work for us. I'm going to give it a try anyway.
Thanks again. I'm glad you put the shirts in with the fold at the top. I hadn't noticed before that they weren't, but now that you've said about it, it makes my fingers itchy, just wanting to reach into that photo and turn them all the same way. LOL.
Cheers from Lily

Just a quick follow up. I just re-did DH's drawers using your method MaryLiz and I think it's going to work...yaaayy!. He doesn't have a lot of polos.. wears them for casual with shorts, so I was able to do one drawer just with his shirts and shorts kind of half folded half rolled. Actually I think they'll stay less wrinkled that way....Smoother folds, no yanking out the bottom one to match the shorts half way down the other pile.
All there at one glance.
I've done the same with my everyday t-shirts and denims.
Also PJ's and sweaters.
And yes, I see what you mean that you can still put them in and take them out if they're not tightly packed.
I'm happy.
Lily

I'm going to start folding my towels this way! It seems like it will use the room in the towel drawers much better. I have 3 built-in drawers under my hall closet where I store towels, but they are always over the top full. It seems like this type of folding will use the room I have better.

Speaking of folding shirts, have you ever seen the google video on japanese shirt folding?

Here is a link that might be useful: Shirt folding

Graywings, that was amazing. Thank you for sharing. There was a video showing it done in English. I posted the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shirt folding in English

I did this for my daughter, when she was little.

Except, I rolled them.

I cut a piece of cardboard to be as wide as the drawer was high, and laid that on the center of the shirts as a folding guide.

But then, to keep the shirts from falling over, I got one of this socks cubbyholes to put in the drawer.

marie - thanks!

maryliz
thats really cool. I hate folding clothes. I wish I could do that and keep it that way but I know it wont last. I hang everything I can.

Oh how I love this forum!!! I'd noticed this thread for a couple of days before I actually got around to opening it. (procrastination anyone? :) I realized that I've been folding my kitchen towels this way for years. Never even occurred to me to do it with shirts! Off to reorganize drawers! Thank you all so much