I folded my towels the same way for my entire adult life: in half, in half again, stack them in the linen closet. They fit awkwardly, the stacks leaned, and pulling one towel from the middle of the stack usually collapsed everything above it. I thought this was just how towels worked.

Then I stayed at a hotel where the towels were folded in thirds and stacked vertically — like files in a filing cabinet. It looked better, it was more space-efficient, and I could pull a towel without the stack avalanching. I came home and re-folded every towel in my house that night. My wife thought I’d lost it. A year later, she admits it’s better.

How to fold in thirds (the hotel method)

Lay the towel flat. Fold it in half lengthwise — so it’s now a long skinny rectangle. Then fold it in thirds: bring one end toward the center, then fold the other end over the top. The finished towel should be roughly a square-ish rectangle, about the depth of your linen closet shelf.

Stack them on their sides, not flat. This is the game-changer. Instead of stacking towels horizontally — one on top of another, like a pile of pancakes — stand them up vertically, like books on a shelf. You can see every towel at a glance. You can pull one from the middle without disturbing the others. The stack can’t collapse because each towel supports itself.

I store my towels on the shelf with the folded edge facing out. It looks like a row of towel “spines.” It takes up about 30% less shelf space than horizontal stacking because towels compress vertically when standing — gravity works with you instead of against you.

Why horizontal stacking is objectively worse

When you stack towels flat, the weight of the towels on top compresses the towels on the bottom. The compressed towels lose their fluff and absorbency — especially if the stack is deep and heavy. Vertical stacking eliminates this because each towel bears its own weight.

Also: when you pull a towel from the bottom or middle of a horizontal stack, everything above it shifts. Over time the stack becomes lopsided, towels fall, you shove them back, and your linen closet looks like a towel grenade went off. Vertical storage means you pull what you need and nothing else moves.

What about bath sheets and oversized towels?

For bath sheets — the really big towels — an extra lengthwise fold helps. Fold in half lengthwise twice (so you have a quarter-width strip), then fold in thirds. The finished size is roughly the same as a standard towel folded in thirds once lengthwise. They’ll still stand vertically on the shelf.

Hand towels and washcloths: same method, just smaller. Folded in thirds, they stand up next to the bath towels in neat little rows. My linen closet looks like a boutique hotel now and I feel unreasonably proud of it every time I open the door.

• Method: Half lengthwise, then fold in thirds
• Storage: Stack vertically — like books, not pancakes
• Folded edge out: Looks clean and lets you see all towels at once
• Bath sheets: Two lengthwise folds, then thirds
• Benefits: Space savings, no stack collapse, towels stay fluffier