How to become a Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker 2024

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker Operate or tend washing or dry-cleaning machines to wash or dry-clean industrial or household articles, such as cloth garments, suede, leather, furs, blankets, draperies, linens, rugs, and carpets. Includes spotters and dyers of these articles.

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker is Also Know as

In different settings, Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker is titled as

Dry Cleaner
Laundry Aide
Laundry Assistant
Laundry Attendant
Laundry Housekeeper
Laundry Technician
Laundry Worker
Personal Clothing Laundry Aide
Spotter

Education and Training of Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker is categorized in Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.

Education Required for Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.

Degrees Related to Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Training Required for Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker in different industries are

What Do Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker do?

Receive and mark articles for laundry or dry cleaning with identifying code numbers or names, using hand or machine markers.
Start washers, dry cleaners, driers, or extractors, and turn valves or levers to regulate machine processes and the volume of soap, detergent, water, bleach, starch, and other additives.
Sort and count articles removed from dryers, and fold, wrap, or hang them.
Examine and sort into lots articles to be cleaned, according to color, fabric, dirt content, and cleaning technique required.
Load articles into washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to perform loading.
Mix and add detergents, dyes, bleaches, starches, and other solutions and chemicals to clean, color, dry, or stiffen articles.
Clean machine filters, and lubricate equipment.
Remove items from washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to do so.
Operate extractors and driers, or direct their operation.
Inspect soiled articles to determine sources of stains, to locate color imperfections, and to identify items requiring special treatment.
Determine spotting procedures and proper solvents, based on fabric and stain types.
Spray steam, water, or air over spots to flush out chemicals, dry material, raise naps, or brighten colors.
Operate dry-cleaning machines to clean soiled articles.
Test fabrics in inconspicuous places to determine whether solvents will damage dyes or fabrics.
Pre-soak, sterilize, scrub, spot-clean, and dry contaminated or stained articles, using neutralizer solutions and portable machines.
Start pumps to operate distilling systems that drain and reclaim dry cleaning solvents.
Operate machines that comb, dry and polish furs, clean, sterilize and fluff feathers and blankets, or roll and package towels.
Spread soiled articles on work tables, and position stained portions over vacuum heads or on marble slabs.
Sprinkle chemical solvents over stains, and pat areas with brushes or sponges to remove stains.
Apply bleaching powders to spots and spray them with steam to remove stains from fabrics that do not respond to other cleaning solvents.
Mix bleaching agents with hot water in vats, and soak material until it is bleached.
Match sample colors, applying knowledge of bleaching agent and dye properties, and types, construction, conditions, and colors of articles.
Apply chemicals to neutralize the effects of solvents.
Identify articles' fabrics and original dyes by sight and touch, or by testing samples with fire or chemical reagents.
Dye articles to change or restore their colors, using knowledge of textile compositions and the properties and effects of bleaches and dyes.
Iron or press articles, fabrics, and furs, using hand irons or pressing machines.
Hang curtains, drapes, blankets, pants, and other garments on stretch frames to dry.
Wash, dry-clean, or glaze delicate articles or fur garment linings by hand, using mild detergents or dry cleaning solutions.
Rinse articles in water and acetic acid solutions to remove excess dye and to fix colors.
Mend and sew articles, using hand stitching, adhesive patches, or sewing machines.
Immerse articles in bleaching baths to strip colors.
Clean fabrics, using vacuums or air hoses.

Qualities of Good Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.

Tools Used by Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Air purifying respirators
Automatic folding machines
Carbon absorbers
Centrifugal laundry extractors
Chemical protection aprons
Clothes pressing irons
Clothing presses
Clothing steamers
Colorimetric detector tubes
Continuous tunnel washers
Direct read air monitors
Dry-cleaning machines
Dry-to-dry closed loop machines
Electronic cash registers
Exhaust dampers
Exhaust ventilation systems
Filter tanks
Garment sponges
Hand markers
Handheld refrigerant leak detectors
Industrial clothes dryers
Industrial washing machines
Infrared gas analyzers
Lint bags
Lint filters
Machine markers
Multipurpose clothing hangers
Overhead conveyor racks
Photoionization detectors
Proximity monitors
Safety gloves
Safety goggles
Semi-automatic folding machines
Solvent tanks
Temperature probes
Textile cleaning brushes
Tunnel finishers
Vacuum cleaners

Technology Skills required for Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker

Cents
Curbside Laundries Wash and Fold POS Software
Email software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word
Sales processing software
Wash-Dry-Fold POS
Web browser software

US Universities

How to become Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker in 2024