Debbie, I saw your question and I WISH I knew the answer. I have no idea! Even if you did burn the ends, I wouldn't know how to tell.
My only idea is that you could knit something up small really quickly, and see how it behaves in water. Use it to wash a dish and throw it in the wash/dryer and just see what happens. I don't know why it would hurt if it wasn't cotton, if it behaved the way you want it to, yeah?
Good luck!