I buy the Grandview Hospitality brand of white towels, hand towels and wash cloths at Costco. They are cheap and decent quality. There are three main reasons:
Reasons one and two: bleach. You can bleach out stains either spot treatment or adding bleach to the wash. Second, bleach disinfects. It gets rid of germs.
Reason three: Theft. This was my original reason to switch. When I was buy nice, quality, textured, patterned and color towels, I had a lot of theft. Not only did it cost a lot but the time to keep track of inventory and shop for replacements was daunting.
The same is true of sheets, but finding pure white sheets at Costco is harder. I agree with others here that Amazon is pretty good for that. I like to buy sets with extra pillowcases because they get stained more quickly.
Going back to Suzanne's original question in this thread: "What to splurge on and what to buy cheap?"
I would like advice on what queen size bed and mattress to buy that can be delivered. Of course durability and cost are the most important factors. Also desks, desk chairs, desk lamps, bed stands, bed stand lamps, floor lamps and living room couches are all important choices I need to make periodically.