My holy grail bed sheets—that friends also love

A couple of months ago, I came to the realization that—despite all the marketing geo-targeted to me, a thirty-something woman in New York City—I actually hate sleeping on linen sheets.

I posed the provocation on Facebook and, to my surprise, unleashed a barrage of agreement. “Not crisp. Overrated.” “Now that you mention it...” “Cannot stand them!” “I bought some linen sheets because I really like other household linens. But I find them to be really hot... so maybe I will just use them in the winter.”

So what to do? Well, I already knew the answer: a return to classic cotton percale. I grew up in the South, where it’s hot and humid for roughly half the year, and percale—matte cotton broadcloth constructed as one thread (warp) over one thread (weft)—is the standard. The tight weave gives a breathable crispness that I can only describe as feeling tented around the body, instead of cocooning the sleeper, as you might find with softer sheets like linen or cotton jersey.

Of course, the sheets between which you sleep are a matter of personal preference. Some may go to bat for the other cotton standard, sateen, which has a more open weave—one thread over four—and a heavier drape. Some don’t mind the hopelessly wrinkled fitted sheet that comes with linen. Some don’t use a top sheet at all!

I am, however, convinced that I’ve found the single best bed sheet set on the market—one that has proven universally popular among all the people I’ve proselytized to. Snowe is one of many direct-to-consumer home goods brands to launch in the past couple of years (guess you need something to put on your direct-to-consumer mattress-in-a-box!), and yes, the plethora of millennial-branded sheets can be confounding. But I’m here to tell you: Snowe’s percale blows the competition out of the water.

Snowe percale remains crisp after repeated washings. The long-staple cotton is finished to be very, very matte. The sheets are somehow both airy and sturdy. And the texture feels like sneaking a nap in a fancy hotel room in the middle of the day.

Why should you trust me, anyway? As an experienced market editor (I’ve vetted a lot of stuff) and an enthusiastic sleeper (more than happy to try out a new thing if it means, ah, sleeping on it), I can attest that these are the sheets that make me excited for the weekly wash-and-change. And the six colleagues who have since bought their own percale would tend to agree.

Percale Sheet Set

• $188

500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, woven in a crisp, smooth, breathable percale.

• $188 at Snowe