Craftsy makes a 50 wt thread that I'm in love with. It's called Pima and comes 5000 yards to a spool. I actually prefer it to Aurifil thread.

My Nolting loves that Essential Pro thread, so I have had this same issue with the white being out for such a long time. I use the cream and it looks fine on a white background.

I just tried the polyester thread from thread art and shockingly my machine likes it and haven't had any tension issues. The cones are not as big as the ones from Connecting Threads or Superior but it worked and was delivered quickly.

Have you tried using a silver thread with the white. I like that look. Had 2 christmas quilts done with it

I like Omni thread to..

My machine loves their Essential Pro also. I have most all of their cotton spools and those I use a lot of I've picked up their cones though very linty. Their polyester cones are so much better with less breakage. I've been waiting for a couple of their colors to come back and just recently received an email that the colors are back in stock. Too late for their sale so I'll just wait till they have another sale. I rarely use white but a pale beige, creamy yellow or even a pale green as it shows up just barely even on white fabrics.

Essential thread vs Superior thread
 

I had been using Superior cotton threads for piecing and quilting and like them. A quilty friend who does longarm quilting for the public swears by Essential cotton for her quilting. I tried it, mainly because of the lower price than superior, and have found that I clean out lint more frequently with this product. Any one else out there find this to be an issue in your quilting?? thanks!