After getting caught up in thread counts and the allure of Egyptian Cotton, cotton blends, microfiber and other types of material, we landed on percale. Nautica makes great quality percale sheets; they are thick, crisp and color fast. Unlike other materials, percale is soft without being overly so (ahem, flannel) and maintains a certain coolness I haven't found in other sheets. The only downside is that I found loads of percale sheet sets at my local "off-price retail stores"for about $*** less than Great Offer Stock.