Well, I'm intrigued by the silk idea "ckcowl", I will have to try that!
I've also had cotton bindings actually snap in the wash on a large, heavy quilt. I then tried cotton wrapped poly...tends to separate while hand stitching, very frustrating. The latest I've tried is Fil-tec poly wrapped poly run thru some thread heaven..working great so far and I'm almost finished with a ginormous king!!!