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How to Roll Towels to Save Space and Organize

How to Fold Towels is one of the topics I have been wanting to write about for more than a year. Its a basic housekeeping hack but something we all use almost every day, either to tidy up towels others messed up , or when doing laundry.

I just started to roll towels this new way and its much better than my older method because the towels stay in place. The secret to having a tightly rolled towel is tucking the point in place to make the towel hold its rolled shape.

Aren’t simple hacks you can remember the best?

What you’ll love about this method:


  • KID FRIENDLY – Roll them and they stay together. Kids swim towels can be kept in a separate place ready to just grab and run.
  • SAVES SPACE – Not only can you sneak a rolled towel (or rug, or throw) up into the top of your linen closet, you can place them outside of the linen closet in a basket for easy extra storage.
  • INEXPENSIVE – Take some towels and a basket you already own, and update them into a spa roll. Works especially well if you have all white towels.

I think a nice basket of neatly roll towels is the best way to display your larger towels. I don’t have any lovely open shelves in our new bathroom yet, but a stack of matching white cotton towels smelling of sweet fabric softener reminds me of a spa or five star hotel even if they are in a basket. Until I get those shelves a basket does a pretty good a job.

Having rolled towels that stay together is a fantastic idea for a busy kids bathroom. Each child has their own preferred colour, hopefully preventing them from ruffling through stacks of neatly folded to find their favorite. You can even use a small basket to hold hand towels near the sink so they kids can skip hanging them on a towel bar.

As an empty nester I find rolled towels perfect to display in a basket, store wire baskets in the compact spaces of our travel trailer, stack away beach towels for the swimming pool and store my loveable dogs bath sheets so they don’t get mixed in. This is very helpful when you don’t have a lot of storage space and you can sneak the seasonal towels way up in the top and squeeze a little more storage.

A well organized closet showing rolled towels to save space. All the towels are white and either stacked or rolled nicely in containers.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Rolling Towels

There are so many folding methods for towels, but this roll and tuck method is a great option for securing towels that stay in neat bundles. The funny part is hubs learnt to fold them this way himself because he finds it intriguing that it works, and he loves that they stay in a nice tight roll.

A collage of the 5 steps it takes to roll towels, The sixth picture shows the final finish towel roll.

Begin with a flat surface at least as big as the towel, you want to be able to lay the towel out flat.

Step 1. Starting at the short side, grab the upper left corner and fold it over to meet the longest edge, forming a triangular shape at one end.

Step 2. Taking the upper long edge fold the towel in half lengthwise matching edges.

Step 3. Grab the towel at both ends along the folded edge and flip it over. Use the palm of your hand to make a crease along the fold.

Step 4. Start at the square short edge (the opposite edge of the point) and roll the towel as tightly as you can towards the pointed end of the towel.

Step 5. Push the point of the towel into the rolled up ends of the towel to secure in place.

Step 6. Finished Towel Roll

A large fabric basket filled with rolled bath towels for a spa like decor touch in the bathroom. There are four neatly rolled white towels in a cream coloured basket. The basket is on a farmhouse stool and there are farmhouse beads, a candled jar and a plant completely the bathroom decor.

You can use this method for any size of towel, its even a great way to display washcloths as well. Our guest room isn’t fully furnished yet, but I did include a chair with a basket full of freshly washed towels and facecloths on a little chair for guests. The room does look like a luxury hotel yet, but its a small touch that somehow looks more welcoming than a simple stack of folded towels.


How to Roll a Towel Video

Here is the same tutorial in video format if you find it easier.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. I do all sorts of different things to squeeze extra storage space around here. I love to be able to find what I want when I want it and still have room to breathe. Happy Organizing.

pretty DIY home pin it logo with a house icon.
A pretty white basket full bright white rolled towels. The basket is sitting on a wooden bench with a candle and a pretty potted green plant.
A neatly folded and stacked set of white bath towels. The folded towels are sitting on a linen closet shelf with a stack of folded hand towels beside it.

Other Ways to Organize and Fold Towels

3 Comments

  1. Great idea to store these! Thanks so much for sharing!

  2. I’ve always wondered how to fold towels like this! Looks very spa-like.

  3. I agree that rolled towels take less room to store. Your how-to roll a towel is wonderful since you include the tuck-in step that will make keeping the rolled towels neat.

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