Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend machines to bleach, shrink, wash, dye, or finish textiles or synthetic or glass fibers.
5,310 people do this job in the US. $38,180 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 11%
- 2%
- 87%
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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 11%. Today's estimate: 11%.
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 . 23 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare dyeing machines for production runs, and conduct test runs of machines to ensure their proper operation.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Start and control machines and equipment to wash, bleach, dye, or otherwise process and finish fabric, yarn, thread, or other textile goods.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove dyed articles from tanks and machines for drying and further processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Add dyes, water, detergents, or chemicals to tanks to dilute or strengthen solutions, according to established formulas and solution test results.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine and feel products to identify defects and variations from coloring and other processing standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Mount rolls of cloth on machines, using hoists, or place textile goods in machines or pieces of equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 33 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Observe display screens, control panels, equipment, and cloth entering or exiting processes to determine if equipment is operating correctly.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Thread ends of cloth or twine through specified sections of equipment prior to processing.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Adjust equipment controls to maintain specified heat, tension, and speed.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect machinery to determine necessary adjustments and repairs.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Study guides, charts, and specification sheets, and confer with supervisors to determine machine setup requirements.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Monitor factors such as temperatures and dye flow rates to ensure that they are within specified ranges.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | 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.
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders9% now, 9% by 2028
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders10% now, 10% by 2028
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers2% now, 2% 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).