Interesting sheets
I read the reviews before I bought these and everyone was right - these are one scratchy set of sheets. However, as you indicated they soften with washing. I washed them before I put them on the bed, but my husband, who can fall asleep any time, anywhere, on anything, noted that they were pretty scratchy. So after two nights, I took them off, washed them again (I use a mild detergent), and before putting them in the dryer, I put them right back through the wash with about 2 cups of vinegar. That made a huge difference. For those of you who might not know, vinegar is a great fabric softener. I use it oft and on to fluff up towels and it never leaves any odor. I have washed the sheets again since then and again used vinegar and they are getting softer. I like them because they are a nice heavy cotton, good for winter as I don't really like sleeping on flannel sheets - I get too warm with flannel. They may shrink just a little in the dryer however, as I don't think they were as good a fit this time when I put them on.