Laundry and Dry-cleaning Workers

Summary

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers clean clothing, linens, drapes, and other articles using washing and dry-cleaning machines.

Quick Facts: Laundry and Dry-cleaning Workers
2010 Median Pay	$19,540 per year $9.40 per hour
Entry-Level Education	Less than high school
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	Short-term on-the-job training
Number of Jobs, 2010	225,200
Job Outlook, 2010-20	1% (Little or no change)
Employment Change, 2010-20	1,600

What Laundry and Dry-cleaning Workers Do

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers clean clothing, linens, drapes, and other articles, using washing, drying, and dry-cleaning machines. They also may clean leather, suede, furs, and rugs.

Work Environment

Most work for laundry and dry-cleaning services, healthcare facilities, or hotels and motels. Most workers are employed full time, but 23 percent work part time.

How to Become a Laundry or Dry-cleaning Worker

There are no formal education or training requirements to become a laundry or dry-cleaning worker. Most workers are trained on the job.

Pay

The median hourly wage of laundry and dry-cleaning workers was $9.40 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of laundry and dry-cleaning workers is expected to experience little or no change, growing 1 percent from 2010 to 2020. Growth is expected due to continued demand for laundry and dry-cleaning services.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of laundry and dry-cleaning workers with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about laundry and dry-cleaning workers by contacting these additional resources.

What Laundry and Dry-cleaning Workers Do

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers remove, sort, and hang clothing and other articles from the machines.

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers clean clothing, linens, drapes, and other articles, using washing, drying, and dry-cleaning machines. They also may clean leather, suede, furs, and rugs.

Duties

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers typically do the following:

• Receive items from customers and mark them with codes or names
• Inspect articles for stains and fabrics that require special care
• Sort articles to be cleaned by fabric type, color, and cleaning technique
• Load clothing into laundry and dry-cleaning machines
• Add detergent, bleach, and other chemicals to laundry and dry-cleaning machines
• Remove, sort, and hang clothing and other articles after they are removed from the machines
• Clean and maintain laundry and dry-cleaning machines

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers ensure proper cleaning of clothing, linens, and other articles. They adjust machine settings for a given fabric or article, as determined by the cleaning instructions on each item of clothing.

When necessary, workers treat spots and stains on articles before washing or dry-cleaning. They monitor machines during the cleaning process and ensure that items are not lost or placed with items of another customer.

Sometimes, laundry and dry-cleaning workers interact with customers. They take the receipts, find the customer's clothing, take payment, make change, and do the cash register work that retail sales people do.

Some dry-cleaners offer alteration services. Often, sewers and tailors do these tasks, but some laundry and dry-cleaning workers do them as well. For more information, see the profile on sewers and tailors.

Work Environment

Dry-cleaning and laundry workers spend many hours standing.

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers held about 225,200 jobs in 2010.

As shown in the following table, in 2010 most laundry and dry-cleaning staff worked for laundry and dry-cleaning services, healthcare facilities, or hotels and motels.

Laundry and dry-cleaning machines can make the work environment warm and noisy. Workers may also be exposed to harsh chemicals, although newer environmentally friendly and less-toxic cleaning solvents are improving their work environment.

In addition, laundry and dry-cleaning workers spend many hours standing.

Work Schedules

Most workers are employed full time. However, about 23 percent work part time. Workers may need to begin work early in the day to have customers’ cleaning done on time.

How to Become a Laundry or Dry-cleaning Worker

Dry-cleaning and laundry workers interact with customers as they drop off and pick up their clothes.

There are no formal education or training requirements to become a laundry or dry-cleaning worker. Most workers are trained on the job.

Education

There are no formal education requirements. Most laundry and dry-cleaning workers have a high school diploma or less. Some take classes in cleaning techniques or sewing, but most employers do not require this.

Training

Workers generally receive short-term on-the-job training. This training includes proper cleaning techniques, how to clean different fabrics, and how to treat stains.

Important Qualities

Customer-service skills. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers interact with customers who drop off and pick up their clothes. Workers may need to respond to customers who are unsatisfied with the quality of the cleaning.

Detail oriented. Many fabrics are delicate and require special care in cleaning. In addition to looking for spots and stains, laundry and dry-cleaning workers must pay attention to the type of fabric to ensure that the item is cleaned properly.

Stamina. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers often spend many hours standing in a warm environment.

Pay

The median hourly wage of laundry and dry-cleaning workers was $9.40 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.71, and the top 10 percent earned more than $14.07.

Most workers are employed full time. However, about 23 percent work part time. Workers may need to begin work early in the day to have customers’ cleaning done on time.

Job Outlook

Employment of laundry and dry-cleaning workers is expected to experience little or no change, growing 1 percent from 2010 to 2020.

A growing population will continue to demand laundry and dry-cleaning services, particularly the dry-cleaning of professional attire. This should translate into demand for laundry and dry-cleaning workers.

However, employment growth may be slowed as consumers continue to choose clothing and other articles that can be cleaned at home. Many clothing manufacturers produce more casual clothing that does not need to be dry-cleaned.

Contacts for More Information

For more information about laundry and dry-cleaning workers, visit

The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute