Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
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.
198,040 people do this job in the US. $34,890 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 2%
- 0%
- 98%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. Today's estimate: 2%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 32 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sort and count articles removed from dryers, and fold, wrap, or hang them.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 15% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine and sort into lots articles to be cleaned, according to color, fabric, dirt content, and cleaning technique required.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Load articles into washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to perform loading.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate extractors and driers, or direct their operation.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove items from washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to do so.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Pre-soak, sterilize, scrub, spot-clean, and dry contaminated or stained articles, using neutralizer solutions and portable machines.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean machine filters, and lubricate equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Sprinkle chemical solvents over stains, and pat areas with brushes or sponges to remove stains.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Wash, dry-clean, or glaze delicate articles or fur garment linings by hand, using mild detergents or dry cleaning solutions.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 33 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect soiled articles to determine sources of stains, to locate color imperfections, and to identify items requiring special treatment.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate dry-cleaning machines to clean soiled articles.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment3% now, 3% by 2028
- Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials2% now, 2% by 2028
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Sewing Machine Operators2% now, 2% by 2028
- Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders11% now, 11% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).