Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
Production Occupations- O*NET-SOC code
- 51-6011.00
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.
AI exposure
- Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08
Low· relative
LowFour relative bandsVery highGroup-level value
Scale, basis and source
Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)
831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band
- Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03
0.000
0.000Range of values carried here0.745Scale, basis and source
Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published
Mapped onto O*NET tasks
Published per SOC 2018 occupation; every O*NET occupation with the same SOC 2018 code carries this value
- Data source: ILOPublished: 2025
0.16
0.09Range of values carried here0.70Group-level value
Scale, basis and source
Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published
Published per ISCO-08 unit group. Linked to this occupation, wholly or in part, by applying U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC) as published
What kind of figure this source publishes
The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.
AI exposure (OpenAI rubric)
32 rated tasks · 3 tasks with β ≥ 0.5 (9.4%)
β = direct exposure (E1) + 0.5 × exposure when tools are available (E2), per the source repository's definition.
- Source unit: O*NET 27.2 tasks → O*NET 31.0 occupation code
- All rated tasks are in the O*NET 31.0 task list.
- Source
- OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" exposure rubric
- Release
- gh-main-0471612
- License
- MIT License, Copyright (c) 2024 OpenAI
Tasks
Task statements from the O*NET® 31.0 Database, core tasks first.
| Task | Type | β (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Core | 0 |
| Sort and count articles removed from dryers, and fold, wrap, or hang them. | Core | 0 |
| Examine and sort into lots articles to be cleaned, according to color, fabric, dirt content, and cleaning technique required. | Core | 0 |
| Load articles into washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to perform loading. | Core | 0 |
| Clean machine filters, and lubricate equipment. | Core | 0 |
| Remove items from washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to do so. | Core | 0 |
| Operate extractors and driers, or direct their operation. | Core | 0 |
| Inspect soiled articles to determine sources of stains, to locate color imperfections, and to identify items requiring special treatment. | Core | 0.5 |
| Determine spotting procedures and proper solvents, based on fabric and stain types. | Core | 1 |
| Sprinkle chemical solvents over stains, and pat areas with brushes or sponges to remove stains. | Core | 0 |
| Receive and mark articles for laundry or dry cleaning with identifying code numbers or names, using hand or machine markers. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Mix and add detergents, dyes, bleaches, starches, and other solutions and chemicals to clean, color, dry, or stiffen articles. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Spray steam, water, or air over spots to flush out chemicals, dry material, raise naps, or brighten colors. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Operate dry-cleaning machines to clean soiled articles. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Test fabrics in inconspicuous places to determine whether solvents will damage dyes or fabrics. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Pre-soak, sterilize, scrub, spot-clean, and dry contaminated or stained articles, using neutralizer solutions and portable machines. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Start pumps to operate distilling systems that drain and reclaim dry cleaning solvents. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Operate machines that comb, dry and polish furs, clean, sterilize and fluff feathers and blankets, or roll and package towels. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Spread soiled articles on work tables, and position stained portions over vacuum heads or on marble slabs. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Apply bleaching powders to spots and spray them with steam to remove stains from fabrics that do not respond to other cleaning solvents. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Mix bleaching agents with hot water in vats, and soak material until it is bleached. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Match sample colors, applying knowledge of bleaching agent and dye properties, and types, construction, conditions, and colors of articles. | Supplemental | 0.5 |
| Apply chemicals to neutralize the effects of solvents. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Identify articles' fabrics and original dyes by sight and touch, or by testing samples with fire or chemical reagents. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Dye articles to change or restore their colors, using knowledge of textile compositions and the properties and effects of bleaches and dyes. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Iron or press articles, fabrics, and furs, using hand irons or pressing machines. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Hang curtains, drapes, blankets, pants, and other garments on stretch frames to dry. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Wash, dry-clean, or glaze delicate articles or fur garment linings by hand, using mild detergents or dry cleaning solutions. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Rinse articles in water and acetic acid solutions to remove excess dye and to fix colors. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Mend and sew articles, using hand stitching, adhesive patches, or sewing machines. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Immerse articles in bleaching baths to strip colors. | Supplemental | 0 |
| Clean fabrics, using vacuums or air hoses. | Supplemental | 0 |
Occupation information
Sources and attribution
This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database (https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html) by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. AI Changing Work has modified all or some of this information: the O*NET-SOC code, title and task statements are reproduced in English without change; task-type labels are shown in the page's language and tasks are listed core first; any Korean occupation title shown on the Korean-language page is AI Changing Work's translation; any KSCO-8 unit groups linked to this occupation were paired with it by AI Changing Work's judgment, and the relation labels and statuses are AI Changing Work's additions. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Any AI exposure figures on this page are published by third parties, not by AI Changing Work, and none is part of the O*NET information. OpenAI publishes task-level scores (MIT License) for O*NET 27.2 task statements; each is shown next to the O*NET 31.0 task statement with the same task ID, whose wording can differ from the 27.2 statement that was scored. OpenAI also publishes occupation-level scores for O*NET-SOC codes in the same release, and any such score is shown on the O*NET occupation with the same code. Anthropic publishes an observed exposure index in the Anthropic Economic Index (CC-BY), and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes relative AI exposure categories (public domain); both are published per SOC code, and each value is shown on every O*NET occupation with that code. The International Labour Organization publishes a generative AI exposure index in ILO Working Paper 140 (CC BY 4.0) for ISCO-08 unit groups; AI Changing Work links those groups to O*NET occupations by applying the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC and 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC crosswalks as published, without case-by-case selection, and these crosswalks match many groups only in part. Where several unit groups are linked, each group's published value is listed, and any summary shows only the lowest and highest of those values with the number of groups; no exposure figure is averaged or recalculated. Any employment figures are published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the SOC group containing this occupation. Each source is credited where its figures are shown.
O*NET OnLine: 51-6011.00 Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
KSCO 코드·명칭: 한국표준직업분류(제8차 개정) — 통계청 고시 제2024-328호 (2024-07-01 고시, 2025-01-01 시행). 저작권법 제7조 제2호의 고시 항목이다. 명칭 표기(가운뎃점·띄어쓰기)는 해설서 2차 정오 반영판의 표기를 따랐으며, 고시 항목표와는 18개 명칭에서 가운뎃점 글리프나 띄어쓰기만 다르다. 통계청은 2025년 10월 국가데이터처로 개편되었다. 이 페이지의 KSCO 연결은 통계청·국가데이터처의 공식 연계표가 아니다.