How to Fold Pants and Jeans

Shopping for new pants and jeans may be fun, but storing them all can be a challenge. If you’ve found that your dresser drawers are filled to the brim and your closet is overflowing, it may be time to do some re-organizing! Both jeans and pants can be bulky items to store and take up way more room than they should, but we have seven space-saving methods that you can use to fold and store them in a neat and organized way that maximizes closet space and keeps your clothes as wrinkle-free as possible. Keep reading for tips and tricks for folding jeans and other types of pants.

Roll and Tuck

Take a pair of jeans and lay them out flat, getting rid of any major wrinkles or creases. You want to make sure there are as few creases in the pants as possible so that they are ready to wear when you need them. Fold them over lengthwise, one pant leg over the other, and flatten them out again. Then, take the pant leg that’s on top and at the knee mark, lift it and fold it over diagonally. Starting at the waistband, begin to tightly roll the jeans, leaving out the diagonally folded pant leg. Once you are done, insert the rolled pants into the pant leg that was left out.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Fold Them Flat

Unfold a pair of pants and straighten them out on a flat surface. Get rid of any large creases, then fold them over lengthwise. Take the waistband end and fold it over to the center of the pants, then do the same with the hemmed end, so that the two ends meet in the middle. Fold one half over the other and flatten it out so the fold is nice and neat.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Fold the Legs

Lay a pair of jeans out on a flat surface, with the front side facing up. Take the bottom of one pant leg and fold it over to the knee mark, then fold it over again up to approximately the top of the front pockets. Do the same with the other pant leg, then fold one side over the other, so you have a neat fold with the back pockets showing on both the top and bottom side of the folded jeans.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Jelly Roll Them

Another great space-saving way to fold pants is to roll them like a jelly roll. Start out the same way as you would with all the other folding methods, by laying the pants flat on a large surface. Straighten them out and fold them over lengthwise. Starting at the hemmed end, tightly start rolling the pants, adjusting the direction and flattening out any wrinkles as necessary. Continue until you reach the waistband and the pants are fully rolled into what looks like a jelly roll.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Alternative Storage Solutions

If you don’t necessarily want to fold your pants and jeans and would rather store them in your closet and not a dresser drawer, here are additional storage options for both casual and dress pants.

Hang Them by the Waistband

For dress pants that you want to keep neatly pressed, use hangers with clips. Fold the pants over lengthwise, then attach the clips at the top of the waistband and hang them up. This will prevent them from stretching out and getting creased, and they’ll be ready to wear anytime you pull them out.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Hang Them by the Cuffs

Alternately, you can also hang dress pants by the cuffs. Instead of using hangers with clips, use ones with clamps that won’t put any indent marks into the cuffs. Make sure that if you are using this or the above hanging method, you hang the pants high enough in your closet so that they don’t touch the floor or other garments below them to prevent creasing.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Fold Them Over a Hanger

For more casual pants or jeans, use non-slip velvet or wooden hangers. As with the aforementioned folding methods, start by laying the pants out flat, then folding them over lengthwise and placing them over the bar on a hanger. This is a great space-saving method as it doesn’t take up much vertical space in your closet, and the pants are folded over to be thin and not bulky.

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald