How to...Fold Your T-Shirts

During basic training, you will be expected to look after your kit to a high standard. This is just as important as the other key skills you will learn, as you train to become a soldier in the British Army. When serving in barracks, on exercise or operations, it is essential that your space is in good order, so you know where your kit is, and your equipment is clean and ready to go at all times.

Get ahead of the game by watching this short video and following the step-by-step guide. You’ll soon be folding t-shirts in your sleep and the frustration of grabbing your favourite t-shirt, to find it’s full of creases, will be a thing of the past!

What you’ll need:

• A t-shirt

• An A4 piece of paper or card to use as a guide

• A hard surface

Step 1 – Set up your folding station

Use a sturdy table with enough space to fold your t-shirt. Lay your t-shirt face down on the surface, so you’re looking at the back of it. Make sure it is pulled out flat with no creases or folds.

Step 2 – Folding the paper/card in

Place the piece of paper in portrait, with the short sides at the top and bottom. Line up the top of the paper with the seam on the t-shirt collar. Fold one side of the t-shirt over the long edge of the paper. Fold the sleeve on the diagonal and make sure it is flat to the edge of the t-shirt, with the end of the sleeve facing the bottom of the t-shirt. Repeat on the other side.

Step 3 – Finishing touches

Take about two inches of the bottom of the t-shirt and fold it up, you don’t have to be exact. Pick up the end you just folded and fold the rest of the t-shirt up to the top of the t-shirt collar. Carefully turn the t-shirt over so the front is now facing up. Gently slide the piece of paper/card out from the top.

That’s how you fold a t-shirt Army style.

It can take a few practices to get the folds right, but with a little repetition, you will be inspection-ready in no time!