The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping

by Elizabeth Hale Gilman

If a pad or cover of any kind is needed over the mattress, that is put on first and spread very smoothly, or, if wide enough, it is drawn very tightly and tucked under the mattress.

Then put on the under sheet, right side up, with the hems at the top and bottom, the selvages at the sides and the middle crease in the middle of the bed. Turn the sheet smoothly under the mattress at the head and foot. In the case of the under sheet, this turn should be a few inches deeper at the head than at the foot; in the upper sheet the deeper turn should be made at the foot. The person who sleeps in the bed naturally pushes the under sheet down, and pulls the upper sheet up.

To fold the corners, stand at the foot or head of the bed. Keeping the fold even, hold the sheet straight out from the side of the bed. Put your other hand under the corner of the mattress and run it round on the fold of the sheet until the thumb is even with the upper edge of the mattress. Hold it there. Then fold smoothly under the mattress the part of the sheet you have held out and withdraw your hand which you will find is in a sort of little pocket. This is sometimes called a pie corner, and it is rather like the fold for a mitred corner in a hem. When finished, the under sheet should be tight stretched and smooth.

Spread the upper sheet on the bed wrong side up, then when the hem is turned back at the head of the bed, it will be right side out. Turn the sheet under at the foot twelve inches if possible. Turn the corners at the foot but do not turn the sides under nor the corners at the head. See that the sheet lies straight, and smooth out all wrinkles.

Photograph by Helen W. Cooke

Straight and Smooth

Put on the blankets, their upper edges reaching to the place where you intend to make the backward fold in the sheet. Fold them under about twelve inches at the foot, not at all at the sides; smooth them carefully.

If two people sleep in a bed or if the blankets are narrow, put a single blanket on crosswise, placing one of the selvages even with the edge of the mattress at the foot of the bed, then the ends will hang some distance over the sides. Some people fold double blankets evenly, some prefer to fold them with one binding a good way below the other binding. This preference depends on whether one likes the upper part of the bed covering thick or thin, and also whether the blanket is long enough to turn under at the foot when folded evenly. The fold, not the bindings should be at the foot of the bed, in order that, if too warm, one thickness of the blanket can be easily thrown back.