Production
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials
Press or shape articles by hand or machine.
Median pay
$35,060
Growth to 2035
−16%
declining
Openings a year
2,200
Time to qualify*
1 month
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to pressers, textile, garment, and related materials
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials: 1% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers.
- Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles.
- Straighten, smooth, or shape materials to prepare them for pressing.
- Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing.
- Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons.
- Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed.
- Identify and treat spots on garments.
- Shrink, stretch, or block articles by hand to conform to original measurements, using forms, blocks, and steam.
Also called: Boarder · Dry Cleaner Presser · Garment Presser · Ironing Machine Operator · Ironing Worker · Pants Presser · Presser · Pressing Machine Operator
Outlook and AI
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials held 26,300 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 22,200 by 2035 (−16%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
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