The Best Brooklinen Bedding, Bath Essentials, and Gifts, According to Employees

As part of a new series, we’re leaving our office to check out AT readers’ favorite stores and interview the employees in person. Although we do consider ourselves the product experts and do test a variety of things in our homes, ranging from vacuums to bedding, we don’t spend all day with our hands on a specific set of products the way that store employees do. For the inaugural iteration, we went to Brooklinen’s store in Brooklyn, NY. Brooklinen has been an AT favorite for quite some time. Their bedding, bath, and even laundry detergent have gotten rave reviews from our staffers.

Last month, we interviewed store manager Angelo, assistant store manager Tessa, and visual sales lead Ella. We asked them for their bedding, bath, and gift recommendations to find out what under-the-radar products shoppers should be checking out and fan favorites that are absolutely worth the hype. Here’s what they told us.

AT Brooklinen Employee Favorites: Bedding

All three Brooklinen employees we interviewed recommended Brooklinen's linen sheets. Yes, the Luxe Sateen is technically their best online seller, but when hot sleepers come into Brooklinen's Brooklyn store, Angelo, Tessa, and Ella direct them to the linen section. But why are shoppers convinced that they should buy linen? It's surprisingly soft, according to Angelo (and me, who was also wowed by the linen sheets' texture when I touched it during this store visit). It's much softer than I ever expected a linen sheet to be. And there's more: "Linen, while also being super breathable, is also our most open-weave," Tessa says. "It’s really good at moisture absorption, so it can absorb 20 percent of its own weight without feeling damp. If you’re a sweaty sleeper or you’re in a humid environment, linen is going to keep you feeling dry and not sticky at all while you sleep."

Brooklinen's famous Luxe Sateen sheets are what all three employees direct shoppers to when they come into the store. This set of sheets is both an online and in-store top-seller, so it's definitely worth checking out if you can't get enough of long-staple cotton and feeling cozy underneath your sheets. They have more than 22,000 reviews on Brooklinen's site.

All three Brooklinen employees we interviewed are hot sleepers but in addition to the linen sheets, store manager Angelo recently decided to try out Brooklinen's flannel sheets and was impressed with this cold-weather staple. "What we wanted to have is an in-between of the cotton and heathered cashmere that we have," Angelo says. "We have a brushed flannel, so it’s warm and a little fuzzy. It’s really good now as it gets colder. I recently flipped my bed from linen to flannel and I find myself doing snow angels because it’s super soft. It’s like I’m being hugged by a sweater." Angelo opted for the Speckled Black and White set, because his aesthetic is spa-inspired.

We weren't so surprised when Tessa named the Marlow Pillow as one of her favorites. This pillow has even nabbed a spot on Best Pillows for Side Sleepers list. "Something we sell a ton of and I’m a huge fan of is the Marlow Pillow," Tessa says. "For a city person, it’s super convenient, because it comes in a box, so it’s really easy to carry. [The pillow] is also adjustable, so you can make it firmer or less firm depending on opening the zippers on the side. It’s different from other adjustable pillows — you may have seen the ones where you take out some of the filling and put it somewhere else. [For the Marlow] everything is going to stay inside the pillow, you’re just going to compress or loosen it."

The lambswool-cashmere blend blanket also is at the top of Angelo's list. It's 80 percent lambswool and 20 percent cashmere. "It is amazing," Angelo says. "I even have it out all year round. In summertime, I put it on my couch, so it looks more cozy but I can also wrap myself around it. During the winter, I put it on the bed to have an extra layer. It’s just super super soft."

Struggling to figure out which comforter weight to pick? Assistant store manager Tessa has you covered there, too. "I actually recommend the down lightweight comforter for practically everybody, even if you wouldn’t consider yourself a hot sleeper per se." She says.

AT Brooklinen Employee Favorites: Bath

If you're the type of person who has a tiny bathroom and just towels off, assistant store manager Tessa recommends these lightweight towels for you (which also happen to be her personal favorite) after discovering the Plush towels were a bit too thick for her. "They’re thinner so they dry a lot quicker, but they have this really long loop on them in the rib, which makes it still very absorbent and very soft. To me, it’s the best of worlds. Plus, the texture is just a really beautiful look." Tessa loves the limited-edition Portabello color so much that she repainted her bathroom from seafoam to cream to match her towels.

Visual sales lead Ella loves the Brooklinen Super Plush towels and says that she would buy more with her employee discount if she were to quit. And although assistant store manager Tessa doesn't prefer these towels, she does say that they are perfect for "if you want to get out of the shower and you’re going to stay wrapped up in your towel for a minute, sit on the couch and do your makeup, the plush is the towel for you"

AT Brooklinen Employee Favorites: Gifts

Both Angelo and Tessa recommend snagging the Mulberry Silk Sleep Bundle for gifting this holiday season. "One great thing about these is that they’re 100% mulberry silk and they’re really good with your skin and your hair, especially for people with curly hair — it’s less friction, so when you sleep on it it’s not damaging to your hair compared to a regular cotton." Tessa says it's also gentle on processed hair and because it's antimicrobial, it'll help you avoid skin breakouts.

Don't sleep on Brooklinen's home fragrance Restore collection, which was mentioned by both Ella and Tessa. "Strictly, I always go for home fragrance and we just launched an extended collection of our Restore, which is a very musky, warm, gorgeous scent," Ella says. "We just came out with a diffuser, a diffuser/candle set, and a room spray. I’ve given Restore probably the past two holiday seasons to just about everyone, because it’s such an easy gift."

You can never go wrong with one of Brooklinen's robes. Both Ella and Tessa recommend getting one of these for your loved ones. Tessa did make a note that the super plush ones are great for winter and people who generally run cold, but that you might want to consider more lightweight options if your giftee tends to get overheated.

Brooklinen's collaboration with Pendleton is always highly anticipated (even at Apartment Therapy!), so it's not a huge surprise that the Brooklinen employees look forward to it as well. This is the third year that Brooklinen has worked with Pendleton to create a high-quality and visually stunning throw blanket, which makes a great cozy gift.