Art of T-shirt Folding

After Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay on July 8, 1853, he left with a signed trade agreement and a new technique for folding his T-shirts. The trade agreement stood the test of time, irrevocably bringing Japan into the global theater, however the T-shirt folding technique was lost ....until now.

1. 
   Start by laying the Tshirt flat and sideways in front of you, neck opening to your right. Find the centerpoint on the far side and pinch it with your left hand, about two inches in from the far edge.

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2. 
   With your right hand, draw a line from your left hand to the right edge of the tshirt, parallel to the edge of the shirt. This brings your right hand to the neck-opening side of the shirt. Grasp the edge with your right hand.

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3. 
   Now while maintaining your grip, cross your right hand over your left, towards the opposite (waist-opening) end of the tshirt. Maintain the same imaginary line you've been working on (about two inches from the far edge of the thsirt, parallel to the edge) and add the new edge to the grasp of your right hand.

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4. 
   This is where the magic happens. Simply uncross your hands and extend them in front of you, lifting the shirt perpendicular to the floor.

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5. 
   Complete the fold by letting the loose arm hole drop to the floor and folding the shirt in half over it!

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6. 
   Breathe deeply and contemplate the terrible beauty you have wrought.

If the written instructions seem too complicated, you can also watch a video here. Thanks Boris! Update: BoingBoing picked this up too. Clearly the Tshirt Folding secret is out! Be sure to follow the trail of links from Boris to Jim for more Tshirt Ninja techniques

Comments

[mie]

Ah, now should I expect the shelves in the closet with your T-shirts to be impeccably folded, sorted by color, stacked ever so neatly? I'll gladly continue to do the laundry so you can hone your skills :)

[Paul]

Ninja folding rules!

We will no longer fold the shirts with the stinky pants western method.

[Laura]

Ha! I love it! Naturally, I just went and practised on different shirts all over my house. It took me a bit to get the hang of it, but the shirts look great! Now, can you post a way to fold fitted sheets?

[Steve]

What the -hell- did I just do to my shirt...?

[dw]

fantabulous method!

[emkayess]

Folding fitted sheets - easy.
Wrong side facing you - turn the bottom two corners inside out and tuck into the top corners.
Turn right corner (doubled now)inside out and tuck into left. All four corners are tucked into one corner. Neatly fold in long sides and top of rectangle. Fold in half lengthwise into a strip.
Fold strip in thirds - I do; it fits my 12" deep linnen cabinet. Adjust folds for your needs. That is for a full sized sheet. You have to make adjustments for King/Queen.

[Curtis]

Haha, only issue I found is that it is a little bit out of poportion when folding xl t-shirts, lol.