My Navy fiance of years ago once taught me his "Navy T-shirt folding technique", and I still use it today, having taught it also to my 3 sons. But it looks nothing like the video of the Navy guy, actually the end result is similar to the Japanese technique, except that there is another fold in half - top to bottom - at the end, so that you end up with a smaller folded T-shirt, which fits very well into my T-shirt basket on my closet shelf, stacking beautifully.

How weird, I just saw the Japanese video on a different site yesterday. Coincidences...

Goodbye social life! Hello organized closets and drawers!

i learned this a few years ago and still use it! it's great.

Of course we have all learned the engineer's method of folding T-shirts from Sheldon.

I remember when Martha Stewart covered this way of folding t-shirts. However, she never mentioned its Japanese origin.

Martha folds a shirt here.

Or you could get a flip and fold like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory, they're great!

I've got the PTSD from having worked Gap Inc. retail, too. My closet will always be folded to standard. I've tried the Japanese method after seeing Martha Stewart do it. Not down with it. I'll stick to my virtual Gap folding board. :)

I use a clipboard. I fold it like the engineer method and it gives me a great, compact folded t-shirt.

The engineering one is amusing compared to the Japanese fold which accomplishes the same thing without all the engineering! (I hang my t-shirts, so I don't use any of these techniques.)

I've also used it for the last few years and have gotten my family hooked on it too. But I do fold the shirts one more time so that they can fit in my dresser drawer with the fold up. That way, I can see all of my shirts at once and don't have to reach under a stack for the one I want.

I learned the japanese folding technique about 10 years ago, and let me tell you it makes a huge difference. I now store about 60 t-shirts in 3 drawers. Super easy and fast to do. I do add an extra half fold at the end.

that was quite incredible, especially the Japanese folding video.

www.Compartmentlife.com

People fold t-shirts?

I second that, MaryWynn... almost everthing I own is on hangers - I'm too lazy to fold.

MAGIC!

OH. MY. GOD. I usually hate folding laundry...but now I can't wait to do a load just so I can do this!

i second the flip fold. its great.

Martha often neglects to give credit where it is due...

I was taught this technique by a gay man who learned it in the military. Still overly fond of hangers for mine, though.

I bought a flip fold after seeing it on Big Bang, but now I want to try the Japanese fold! I am such a nerd that different shirt types have different folds, so this post is right up my alley!

You can also watch a nice clip on Margiela's website showing the Japanese Folding method.
Enjoy!
http://eboutique.maisonmartinmargiela.com/home.asp?tskay=2B0A884F&season=main&memory=1

I worked at the Gap too and never lost that compulsion to fold everything perfectly. (Remember the wall of sweats??? What a pain in the butt!) I don't like the Japanese fold bc it leaves one sleeve hanging outside and it totally doesn't work for long sleeve Tshirts. Thanks for compiling all these videos in one place, folding fun!

I have always wanted a flip fold...and this one was too easy not to make -- even though I'm not too handy. I started at 7 PM, finished it by 8 PM and now, at 9 PM, have a very organized and great looking t-shirt shelf. Now, as long as I keep up with it......

Lifehacker must have posted the Japanese folding technique because my husband has been doing it for about a year now. It drives me crazy because the folded shirt is still so big and it easily comes unfolded.

I have my own obsessive technique that is similar but sturdier and narrower -- and I'm pretty fast about it. Which just means he can't fold my shirts and I can't fold his.

omg between working at Old Navy & Canal Jeans, i fold my clothes into all these little perfect piles that never fall over.

My husband does the Japanese fold, which is the strangest and possibly least intuitive method for folding shirts that I've ever witnessed. I put in a year obsessively folding and refolding sweaters, shirts, and all manner of other things at a Lands' End outlet, so I feel like I'm pretty set in the folding department. Also, I'm with @nestingdollgirl about the sleeve handling in the Japanese method. Weird weird weird.

need to buy a flip fold. have been obsessed since I saw Sheldon on big bang theory with it.

I've adapted the Japanese method to one that is more intuitive to me.

Instead of pinching halfway and the top, and then crossing arms, I just grab the top and the bottom, fold that little bit over (long way), then fold the shirt in half (short way), and finish the way they do.

It works for long sleeves if you fold in the sleeves first and don't flip/shake it like they do in the video (i.e., the way I do it).