Down Comforter, Dry Clean Only Advice (Sorry If In Wrong Spot)

[Majesty]

So, this isn't a major issue but I have a powder blue down comforter.  In my previous house it was on the top shelf of my closet and we had work done on the roof one summer and I guess all the banging and tearing up they did caused yellow spots to get on my comforter.  My room was on the second floor.  I tried this stuff which works great called Fabric and Rug cleaner.  It works great on my regular comforters but not so much on my down comforter.  Along with the yellow spots I now have water stains around the area where the water spots are.

The tag for the washing says dry clean only, which is fine.  There are a few laundromats who do dry cleaning as well.  So, I have a few questions as I've never been to a dry cleaner before...will the dry cleaning get the yellow stains out and the water stains?  I visited one dry cleaner in the city I used to live in just to get an idea on prices and they said they could also have my comforter sent away to be professionally cleaned but I don't want to take the risk that something happens to it such as rips, tears, more stains or worse they lose it or it gets stolen.

I did read online that if you have a large front load washer and are careful you can clean the down comforter at home but I don't have one of those washing machines.

I just want to know if taking it to a dry cleaner will get the job done.

Thanks for reading.   Sorry if this is in the wrong spot.


~Majesty

Moving this to Off Topic for you. Snork Maiden, WYP mod

[Epona]

You are probably better off sending it to a dry cleaners. Down feathers can poke through the material and become loose in the washer in a normal washing machine. It doesn't take very many loose feathers to clog the filters in a washing machine and break it. 
The dry cleaning is much cheaper than buying a new washing machine.  Just make sure its a reputable cleaners that has experience with down.
If you do decide to wash it yourself, take it to a Laundromat so you don't break your own machine.

[Skeen]

If it says dry clean only, then dry clean it.  Depending on what the stains are, they may or may not come out.  You won't know til you get it cleaned.  You'll just have to take the risk with the dry cleaners.  If terrible things happened often to clothes sent out to professionals then dry cleaners wouldn't stay in business. 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Dry cleaners have you sign a waiver saying that they guarantee no actual cleaning and that they are not responsible for any damage they cause to your items.

This is why when our cat peed all over our roommate's velvet 12 piece couch, we had to rent a steam carpet cleaner.  the dry cleaners wouldn't accept the couch - they said there could be dye leakage, the cushions might stretch or shrink and not fit back on the pillows, the velvet might still smell funny, and more importantly, there was a $80 service fee for accepting an item dripping with cat pee because the employees didn't want to get it on themselves or the equipment.

Dry cleaning is such a risk...  ugh.  I avoid whenever possible but sometimes you have items that don't do well in washing machines - like down comforters.    All you can do it take it in, and see what happens.

[Majesty]

Thanks everyone for your responses.  I hate those kind of waivers, because that means they can get away with things that are their fault.  What if someone who works there likes your stuff and they decide to steal it (but they're not responsible) or if they damage it because they did something wrong, like they didn't know what they were doing or weren't paying attention.