HOWTO make a really well-tucked bed

From the Art of Manliness website, instructions for "How to Make a Bed You Can Bounce a Quarter Off Of." I have to say that I hate sleeping under tightly tucked sheets (especially at the bottom! The feet must be free to poke out and catch a breeze when the internal temperature spikes!), but there's something perversely aesthetically appealing about the overall kentuckyness of a really well-made bed. The secret, apparently, is in the hospital corners.

Starting at the foot of the bed, tuck the end of the sheet between the mattress and box springs. Don’t just bunch the sheet between the mattress and the box springs, rather ensure that the sheet lays smoothly between the two.
Go to the head of the bed and pull the other end of the sheet taut. Tuck the sheet under the mattress as you did at the foot of the bed.
Go back to the foot of the bed and pick a corner to make your first hospital corner. Grab the sheet draping from the side about 16 inches from the foot of the bed (Diagram A).
Place one finger on top of the corner, lifting the sheet with the other hand (Diagram B).
Tuck lower drape under the mattress (Diagram C).
Hold the corner in place and bring the sheet over. You want the fold on the top sheet to form a 45-degree angle. That’s standard for the Army (Diagram D).
Tuck the rest of the side of the sheet under the mattress, working your way to the head of the bed (Diagram E). Repeat on all four corners of the bed. As you tuck, take your hand and smooth out any wrinkles that may form in the sheet on the top of the bed.

How to Make a Bed You Can Bounce a Quarter Off Of (via Making Light)

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http://twitter.com/davidmang davidmang

My dad’s a surgeon. My siblings and I never fail to put hospital corners and folds on our beds. I don’t know why this is; he was never strict about us doing this, but we seem to have picked up the habit anyway.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  he was never strict about us doing this
  
  Lucky you. I had a quarter bounced on my bed every morning to make sure that my hospital corners were tight.
nox

Step E is counter-productive. You have to fight it when you go to sleep the next night, likely damaging what you’ve done in D.

A-D are good though. They make a bed much lower maintenance and really only have to be done when you wash your sheets.
http://profiles.google.com/dickpilz Dick Pilz

I learned this in boot camp. The one mod I do now is to go back to the middle of the foot of the bed and pull some of the sheet back out to give room for my toes
GawainLavers

That’s great, really, but I think I’ll pass.
- ChickieD
  
  Great. (sigh)
ChickieD

My grandparents lived in Montgomery, Al. They had a maid who taught me this pro bedmaking tip. After you put the bedspread on the bed, go to the foot of the bed. Press the corners of the bedspread so the fabric at each corner forms triangles down from the top of the mattress to the floor.
- http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
  
  Tucking the bedspread under the pillows also smartens up the look nicely.
ChickieD

I think a tight sheet has a swaddling effect that is comforting.
phuzz

I learnt this as a cadet.
Of course, I use elasticated sheets and a duvet now.
robbersdog

This is great for the bottom sheet, but how could you sleep under a tucked in sheet?!
- Finnagain
  
  You can’t. It’s insanity, but the swaddling comment above might be a clue.
  - embryoconcepts
    
    Oh, you can, and I love to do so. I tuck the top sheet and spread in, to within ~18″ from the top of the bed, and fold the sheet and spread down from that point. If it’s just me, I’ll slide down into the bed, and back out in the morning to keep from untucking too much. Seriously. It is quite comforting, and I think the swaddling suggestion is spot on. I’ve tried the fitted bottom sheet + duvet style before, and felt…insecure? Whatever it was, I was barely able to sleep, so gave it up.
welcomeabored

Hmmm… something about that mattress… its perfectly square corners and lack of a pillow top layer being conducive to making hospital corners. We have a ‘deep’ mattress and my corners come out kinda frumpy no matter what.

On the other hand, so do the corners on my boxed Christmas packages, so I’ll be closing the bedroom door when those white-gloved, quarter-bouncers come a’visitin’. Don’t actually know any of those folks, sounds a little creepy.

Note to self: Make appointment with podiatrist to discuss excessive foot pronation, and modify squats to plie-style.
Heyref

My mom taught me to do that when I was just a kid.
- http://www.gyrofrog.com/ Gyrofrog
  
  Same here. “Hospital corners.” Nowadays, I just do Step E only for a foot or so away from the foot of the bed. My wife doesn’t like the tucked sheet.
  
  See also http://youtu.be/bl3HcIXvIo0
- kiptw
  
  Mine too. It paid off when I worked at Holiday Inn for a while as a maid. No hospital corners for me when I make up for myself, though. My wife and I make up our sides of the bed separately, as we each use different covers (and we never pull the cover off of our spouse that way).
tinydancer

This is one of the very first things I was taught in nursing school. It’s also one of the things I learned in nursing school that I never, ever, use as a nurse.
MollyMaguire

My parents were sort of sticklers for this. I learned the hospital corner at a young age. They were a little disturbed when my brother, around the age of 12 or so, took to sleeping on the buffalo skin on the floor under a pile of random blankets.

Contrary to Cory, my Dad’s argument was that the foot of the bed should be well-tucked to avoid drafts. He’s always had cold feet.
IronEdithKidd

Ugh. My mom made me make my bed like this as a kid. I have *never* tucked the sheets since I left. I absolutely can’t stand my feet being trapped in the covers like that.
- Finnagain
  
  Sleeping with tucked sheets only works if you never, ever sleep on your back. Or, you don’t own toes. Or feet.
  - IronEdithKidd
    
    I think that’s a big part of why I hate it so much. I sleep on my back almost exclusively. A sadists invention, this tucking.
  - http://burntheflag.ca Jardine
    
    Or if you’re at all tall. I think bed making is a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation for no particular reason. I can see it being a reasonable notion when you have multiple kids sleeping in one bed, since that’s communal living space. But that doesn’t make sense in most modern homes. I can also see it making sense in places like Australia where venomous wildlife could sneak into a crevice. That doesn’t apply to places where the local fauna isn’t hostile and small enough to get into your bed though.
    
    In my bed, I move the sheet (or comforter) off of me enough so I can get out of bed. Then when I want to get back in, I simply get back in and pull it back over me. Efficiency!
- kiptw
  
  I use my toes to pull the covers down a couple of inches, so my feet have that bit of slack. Otherwise, my feet would be bent by now.
Michael Lathrop

This sort of attention to a detail that doesn’t seem to serve any real purpose drives me crazy. ”Looks neat” is not a sign of anything, except perhaps, OCD.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Henocq/1296799613 Brian Hénocq

Oh dear. You’ve all missed the point here. This is never, ever done with the top sheet, only with the bottom sheet. You never get under a sheet that’s made up like this. Many years ago I went to hotel school and learned to make a bed like this this when I did the housekeeping course. I always make my bed like this, and I get under the duvet which goes on top. Once you’ve done it this way you seldom need to do any serious bedmaking until you need to change the sheets. Just give the duvet a shake every day and you’re done.
margaretpoa

The point is you kinda have to make it every day. We made our beds like that in Navy boot camp and I still do it occasionally when my OCD kicks in…
equilibrist

Spent much time in the military Cory? This is the correct way to make a bunk. Props to all the nurses and housekeepers also. I still make the bed this way and then proceed to kick out the bottom so I can do temperature adjustment as needed.