Percale:Percale is one of the most commonly used weaves for sheets. Also sometimes known as a plain weave, percale is a one yarn over, one yarn under weave. That means the warp (lengthwise threads) and weft (horizontal threads) will be equal in number. 

First of all, because linen’s flax fibers are slightly longer than those of cotton and wrapped a little tighter, linen sheets are stronger which means they will last much longer. If softness is a factor for you, you may want to consider cotton, though. Flax fibers are much rougher than cotton resulting in slightly crisper fabric. But the great thing about linen is that it gets softer after each wash, so essentially it gets better with time.