Good to know! Wonder if they still have them. About due for a ride to T but try not to go too often as I lose it in there and buy everything I see.

Roc - they do, but I can't guarantee that the towels sold today are the same as those sold three years ago. You, better than most, know how quickly quality and sources change in the textile world!

P.S. Brooklinen sheets will arrive Monday. With any luck I will have time to give them a quick wash, iron, and sleep on them Monday night. Can't wait to report back. Let me know what specifically I should look/feel for to give an adequate review. Happy Saturday...

Alex, when your sheets arrive do a long hot wash to remove all the finishing chemicals on them.

@AlexChicago -- So excited! Please take before & after pix if you can.

Expect you know this but I'll pass along advice from my expert source. Sheets are finished in various ways. Important -- as mamapinky says -- to give them a first wash that's hot with a premium detergent. That will get out chemical finishing agents, if any. I would not use a detergent with bleach. Or anything too strong.

I would iron them slightly damp. Just handling them will tell you a lot and whether they are well sewn -- you tend to see all those little details when ironing.

One thing -- don't iron any creases down. That breaks fibers. I iron flat, or double up but do not press down the folds. People do, but those give you the permanent crease lines you often see.

You should slide right into that bed and it should be quite smooth. But the sheets will not come into their own until at least 3 washings and ironings. Still, you will know if you like them, if they are generously sized, and good quality. The smoother they are, the better the quality. That simple.

Very much looking forward to the full report!!

MamaP and Roc - thank you! Yes, they will get a hot wash in a good detergent - probably Tide liquid as I'd rather not start right off with powders. For whatever reason, the "permanent press" setting on my dryer is stopping with clothes just slightly damp. This is annoying for regular clothes, but I've found it's the perfect dampness level for ironing sheets. My method with the percale sheets I have is to iron the top sheets folded in half lengthwise, but of course not to press the crease. Folded this way, a queen sheet will just fit on the width of my ironing board. Perfect.

I will take pics of the bedding in the packaging so you can see how it's put together, an then I'll try to get a pic once the bed is made or at least once they are washed and pressed. Really hoping the measuring and stitching is of good quality so I can get pillowcases that press out nice and flat with no geometry problems.

Most of my kitchen towels start out as hand towels, then once they are a bit worn, they go to the kitchen and then to the garage as oil changing towels. I do have some that actually started out in the kitchen though. They probably think they are special, LOL.

@alex...in a kitchen towel, what are you looking for? Is it for drying your hands, drying dishes? For you, what makes a "good' Kitchen towel? Just curious.

I normally just buy white so I can bleach them if necessary. I guess I could buy colored ones to hang on the oven handle for just drying hands. But usually the towel will go clean on the oven handle, get a few uses and then will end up getting used to wipe up water or whatever mess on the counter and then the hamper.

@always - good question! I have some towels that are task-specific, such as old fashioned flour sack towels for wiping glassware as it comes out of the dishwasher. In my experience, nothing works better, and they wash/bleach/dry really well. But that's about the only task I use them for. The rest are used multipurpose such as: wiping up spills, putting under feeding plates for the cats, stand-in pot holder for removing items from the oven, dinner napkins, or makeshift cheese cloth if I need to strain something.

I like a variety of sizes and thickness, and a bit of pattern or color to them. Some stains are just going to set regardless of your laundering techniques, because I refuse to spot-treat kitchen towels. A little pattern helps hide the stray stain from oil or scalding tomato sauce. For that reason, the only pure white towels I have are the flour sack. For the rest, I require that they withstand long hot washes, dry flat, and not pill.

Always, that's how I pretty much am, I've tried some pretty deco towels just for hands, they always end up wiping up spills or drying the sink and faucet off. I just stick with white cotton towels, which I've learned here are called flour sack towels. They wash up bright white and stain free without chlorine bleach, but can handle the bleach if needed.

I don't even put my vintage linen tea towels out anymore unless its a holiday or special occasion.

But I too am always interested in what type of kitchen towels people use and like and why.

I have some of the RE kitchen towels in both red and black. ( I have a white, black and red kitchen. A little on the eclectic side, but I like it), and also tons of the flour sack towels from my lovely mother who loves them and sends them to me all the time. I have no idea where she gets them. She still has linen tea towels of which she's sent a few of those to me as well. My red and black RE towels have held up well despite constant laundering in hot water and oxygen bleach, and the flour sack towels I love. I do find it annoying to constantly have to walk to the back of the house where the hampers are when I change the towels out, which is almost ev day. Does anyone keep a kitchen towel hamper in their kitchen? I'm trying to picture where I'd put it.

Mine are mostly white and 3 types. First type are white waffle weave microfiber towels which I love for drying dishes as they have absolutely no lint and dry wonderfully.

Second are waffle weave white cotton towels which I think came from Crate & Barrel originally. Those are sturdy and wash well and I use them for draining. I hate dish drainers so the few things I handwash are set on the towel to drip, then dry them. I also use those above the DW to blot anything wet from there while I'm unloading.

Then I have the newer vintage French metis towels because they are incredibly sturdy and large. Those cover a big area of the counter and are used for draining. They also double as small cloths to cover most anything needed. I sometimes use them on the upholstered ottoman under a tray when we eat in the TV room.

I am fussy about everything, including dish towels. I only use them for drying or draining. Not for hands (I have some 3 gray and white checked towels for that) and not for wiping up anything. I use microfiber cloths for things like wiping up spills.

Also don't clean anything with dishtowels as I don't want cleaning solutions on them.

I only have 1 flour sack which I use for straining/clarifying.

Don't have a hamper but do have a French towel rack I bought on ebay which is great for hanging up dirty and wet towels near the utility closet. They can pile up there until there enough to go into the laundry. The labels are hands, dishes, napkins/placemats and glassware LOL. Maybe it was living in France that made me this way.

C'est adorable comme porte-serviette, Roc! I would love to have something similar to that. I definitely need to have more place to hang towels in my kitchen now that I've replaced my dishwasher with one that doesn't have a loop handle. Honestly, I always hated hanging them there anyway: every time I opened the dang DW the towels fell on the floor. And, for the record, your being "fussy about everything" is exactly the reason we trust your advice so much! :)

These were numerous on ebay for quite a while. Now, not much. And just a couple on etsy. But it's Spring and in the next 2 months if you watch both sources -- also French ebay -- the flea markets and house sales should make them available. I bought most of my dish towels last May-June. Then the stream dried up.

Assume you know about the racket of French post office costs on ebay and needing to check with sellers. If not let me know.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porte-Torchons-Linge-Maison-/111273901294?hash=item19e870fcee:g:FpYAAOxyUrZS87fR

https://www.etsy.com/listing/251213263/antique-french-white-enamel-torchon?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=french%20torchon%20rack&ref=sc_gallery_2&plkey=e9c7ad485cfebfe627abe0f31c8b35fcf893d012:251213263

https://www.etsy.com/listing/248947295/antique-french-marbled-blue-lustucru?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=french%20torchon%20rack&ref=sc_gallery_3&plkey=994b0e65ce24780e5bee1993da8f5c00099e52da:248947295

I have 2 small to medium sized wicker baskets in the laundry room, right off the kitchen, one is for kitchen towels that dry dishes and the other for the washable non paper towels... they get hung over the edge until dry than put inside the basket, I like the wicker as its breathable.

Roc, do people clean using dish towels..I mean when I'm done with mine I usually wipe around the faucets with it as I hate any water around them, but I doubt wiping a few drops of water off the faucet is cleaning, people actually clean clean using chemicals with kitchen towels, that just amazes me, tthat's what cleaning rags are for or at least the disposable wipes.

I've seen it done. One towel; multi uses. But I tend to be sensitive to all this stuff.

If I had colored or printed dish towels I couldn't use them for cleaning...wiping up water or faucets ok, but I use Clorox spray which has bleach and it would ruin colored or printed dish towels.