I bought flannel sheets once and like the jersey ones, they pilled! And they were expensive!
Also, I can't use downy on sheets or underwear or my whole family starts itching. It's okay for us on outerwear, but anything else, nope.
I usually wash our sheets in hot water with bleach and detergent, no softener, and they're *really* soft after they come out.
I know, the bleach is probably going to shorten the lifespan of the sheets, but it's the only thing that gets out 'body soil' (thanks, clorox, for that image

) and kills dust mites.
I like to dry them out on the back deck in the sunshine. Sheets dried in the sun, man, nothing smells better when you get into bed that night!
We should rename this thread "the sheet fetish thread!" It's so funny, now that I bought nice sheets, I can't imagine ever getting cheap ones again.
I wonder how many other freaky expensive things I'll discover I can't do without as I get older....