Dammit!
I bought this thing and I didn’t notice the tag said “DCO” on the label until I got home. But even then I thought “No biggie, 10 bucks, tops, at the dry cleaners.”
Boy was I wrong! They want $42 to clean that with the pillow cases! I only paid $99 for the comforter itself.
Inspecting the comforter, I really don’t see whats so special about the material that it has to be dry cleaned.
So what do you guys think? Should I just wash it myself?
Or comply with the label?
How much do you care about it? If you’d be upset if it got ruined, or if you’d rather spend $42 to dry clean it than whatever it’d take to replace it, suck it up and dry clean it. If you’re not especially attached to it, give it a shot in the washing machine.
What’s it made of?
Does it have stains? Or is is just a little smelly?
OK, then carefully hand wash any small stains. Then spray lightly with Febreeze, etc, toss in the dryer at the lowest heat with a couple of extra dryer sheets.
For a musty smell you can lay it in a sunny place for a couple days and the smell will be gone.
I’m sure it says dry clean because something can get messed up. They put those labels there for a reason. Wash it if you can chance it being ruined.
Face: 65% polyester, 35% cotton
Back: 100% polyester
Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.
That means it’s… dirty!
This is why you should use a duvet cover, which you can remove and do like normal laundry. If you use a cover, you can go years at a time without cleaning the comforter itself.
This is exactly what I came in to say! Last time the hubby and I bought a comforter, we found a good deal on it, but it still cost us a little chunk of change. I insisted we buy a cover for it before we even went home. If you want a good deal on a comforter cover/duvet cover, check overstock.com.
My suggestion would be to shell out the $$ to get it dry-cleaned this time, but before you use it again, get a cover for it. I’d also suggest you look for one that buttons/ties. If you buy one that you just “slip” the comforter into, like a huge pillowcase, it’s a PITA. Only MHO, of course.
It also depends on how big it is - I have a small summer comforter that I wash regularly. I won’t be washing our huge winter comforter, though (or I might possibly go to a laundromat and use their heavy-duty machine).
While we’re talking about comforters, one of the best things I’ve ever done with a washable comforter was sew all the layers together in many spots throughout the comforter. That way with repeated washings, all the stuffing has stayed in place and hasn’t all migrated to the edges.
ETA: Using a top sheet also extends the life of your comforters, too.
I have washed my comforters, and quilts in washing machines many times. They always come out fine. None of them are very expensive, so I would never pay that much do dry clean them.
I do recommend going to a laundromat, and using a large front loading machine, however. Anything that agitates or top loading could mess it up. Then just dry it on low, or partially dry it, and hang it in the sun to finish it off. 
FYI, The last time I used a large machine and washed and dried mine in a laundromat it cost me about $8 total.
I used to be a Nanny for a couple in CA, I was a live in, and laundry was part of my job. I had to wrestle a duvet cover off and on their huge king sized down comforter once a week. It was nearly enough to make me quit that job!! It was a duvet cover that works like an old fashioned sandwich bag. You “slipped” the comforter in and then folded a flap over one end. Seriously, I bet I looked like Lucille Ball making that damn thing up every week!
Polyester and cotton are machine washable. You should be fine.
Many washers will have a gentle cycle setting. If your washer has one, wash it on that setting.
There might be problems with the filling shifting and bunching if you wash it; a larger machine such as the laundromat, and/or tossing a few tennis balls into the dryer with it, might help that.
I was going to mention those home dry-cleaning kids (that use the dryer) but per here, it sounds like they don’t do much in the way of real cleaning.
Anyway - I’d second what other posters have said - if you are willing to risk ruining the thing, you could try cleaning it at home, otherwise spend the 42 bucks once and get a duvet cover for the future.
This is why I recommended looking for the ones with buttons or ties.
Still. . .every week? Srsly??
What, didn’t they use a top-sheet or what? If there’s a top sheet between me and my duvet cover, why the hell would I think it needs to be washed every single week? 
I have often washed all kinds of things in the machine that are labelled DCO. I cannot imagine spending $42 to clean a comforter. As mentioned, dangers are:
[ul]
[li]Shrinkage of material if you dry it too hot. So wash in cold water and dry on lowest setting or line dry.[/li][li]Bunching of filling or stress on the material due to washing machine agitator. Means it’s too big for your machine. If it won’t fit into your washing machine without jamming it in, wash it in a front-loader at the laundromat.[/li][/ul]
Once I even accidentally got a pair of wool slacks in with my other clothes. It didn’t hurt them but it took the structure out of them and was an effort to iron back to their original selves. However, my wife washed my knit cotton shirt with everything else and it came out of the dryer (!) shrunk by at least two sizes.
The main thing I could think of is if it has some embroidery on it. Sometimes they say to DCO so the embroidery won’t pull out.
I was going to say, do what I do - rub any spots with a damp washcloth, with a bit of baby shampoo or some soap - but DON’T do this if it’s a solid color. This could remove the color and leave a light patch 
- all my comforters are old, faded, and multicolored, so it doesn’t matter. … When new, I hauled my comforters twice a year, spring and fall, to the laundromat and stuffed them in the gigundo machine, on cold, delicate setting. Put them in the gigundo dryer (with some tennis balls/clean sneakers) just to get excess moisture out, and took them home to dry outside for as long as it took…
The thing is, and this may be why it says dry clean only -
The comforters lost their ‘loft’ and got much, much thinner, like ordinary quilts.
(did the same with Mr. S’s winter parka once - it SAID it could be washed - but it came out much thinner and it wasn’t warm any more, no air in the loft to hold in body heat.)
What do the tennis balls in the dryer do?
They declump the lumps.
In short, they keep the comforter from rolling itself into a ball during the process of the dryer spinning it around.
The truth about dry cleaners is that they water wash almost everything except coats and silk shirts.