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What does a laundry worker do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

Laundry Workers are skilled professionals who oversee laundry machines. They operate washing machines or dryers in a residential home or a commercial establishment. Laundry Workers should know how to wash and care for different types of cloth properly. They should know which detergent type would work best for a specific fabric and which fabrics should be hand-washed instead of machine-washed. At times, Laundry Workers should at least know how to conduct basic repairs and maintenance on machines.

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Laundry worker responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real laundry worker resumes:

  • Work with children with Adhd, bipolar and autism.
  • Comply with EPA and OSHA regulations and other safety policies of the hospital.
  • Receive new shipments, sort, and clean laundry using OSHA requirements on a daily basis.
  • Start washers, dry cleaners, driers, extractors, and turn valves and levers to regulate machine.
  • Sort and count articles remove from dryers, and fold, wrapped, hang, iron or press items.
  • Sort dirty clothes and linens, work with industrial washers and dryers, pack carts, do weekly inventory of linens.
  • Maintain cleanliness and overall house appearance.
  • Communicate with residents on a daily basis and build relationships and foster caring and compassion in day-to-day tasks
  • Disinfect equipment and supplies, using germicides or steam operate sterilizers.

Laundry worker skills and personality traits

We calculated that 33% of Laundry Workers are proficient in Customer Service, Cleanliness, and Clean Linen. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Mechanical skills, and Physical strength.

We break down the percentage of Laundry Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Service, 33%

    Maintained sanitary and attractive surroundings provide excellent customer service and comply with all safety guidelines according to hospital/regulatory standards.

  • Cleanliness, 29%

    Maintained cleanliness and overall house appearance.

  • Clean Linen, 19%

    Weigh linen carts to verify soiled linen weight being sent to processor and weigh incoming clean linen to verify delivery weights.

  • Dryers, 15%

    Sorted dirty clothes and linens, worked with industrial washers and dryers, packed carts, did weekly inventory of linens.

  • Patients, 1%

    Maintained a positive relationship with patients and coworkers.

  • OSHA, 1%

    Complied with EPA and OSHA regulations and other safety policies of the hospital.

Most laundry workers use their skills in "customer service," "cleanliness," and "clean linen" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential laundry worker responsibilities here:

Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a laundry worker to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what laundry workers do because "janitors and building cleaners must interact well other cleaners and the people who live or work in the buildings they service." Additionally, a laundry worker resume shows how laundry workers use interpersonal skills: "provided exemplary customer service and a team player mindset by utilizing excellent interpersonal skills and a commitment to customer service. "

Mechanical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling laundry worker duties is mechanical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "janitors and building cleaners need to understand general building operations and should be able to make routine repairs, such as to leaky faucets." According to a laundry worker resume, here's how laundry workers can utilize mechanical skills in their job responsibilities: "facilitated new customer growth with excellent customer service ability.skills usedmechanical ability for keeping washers, dryers and car wash facility operational. "

Physical strength. laundry workers are also known for physical strength, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to laundry worker responsibilities, because "janitors and building cleaners often must lift and move heavy cleaning materials and equipment." A laundry worker resume example shows how physical strength is used in the workplace: "washed and dried hotel linen, folding, stocking shelves, physical inventory. "

Time-management skills. laundry worker responsibilities often require "time-management skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "janitors and building cleaners must plan and complete tasks in a timely manner." This resume example shows what laundry workers do with time-management skills on a typical day: "ensured all safety and cleanliness procedures were followed provided fast service so that housekeepers could have rooms ready on time. "

Most common laundry worker skills

The three companies that hire the most laundry workers are:

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Compare different laundry workers

Laundry worker vs. Drying room attendant

We looked at the average laundry worker salary and compared it with the wages of a drying room attendant. Generally speaking, drying room attendants are paid $827 higher than laundry workers per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between laundry workers and drying room attendants are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like clean linen, dryers, and safety standards.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between laundry workers and drying room attendant. For instance, laundry worker responsibilities require skills such as "customer service," "cleanliness," "work tables," and "patients." Whereas a drying room attendant is skilled in "rail system," "organization," "customer specifications," and "eye coordination." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Drying room attendants tend to reach similar levels of education than laundry workers. In fact, drying room attendants are 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Laundry worker vs. Dry cleaning attendant

A career as a dry cleaning attendant brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a laundry worker. In fact, dry cleaning attendants salary is $1,313 higher than the salary of laundry workers per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Laundry workers and dry cleaning attendants both require similar skills like "customer service," "cleanliness," and "clean linen" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real laundry worker resumes. While laundry worker responsibilities can utilize skills like "work tables," "patients," "osha," and "rehabilitation," dry cleaning attendants use skills like "ladders," "commercial cleaning," "light fixtures," and "casino floor."

On average, dry cleaning attendants earn a higher salary than laundry workers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, dry cleaning attendants earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $30,826. Whereas laundry workers have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $28,864.In general, dry cleaning attendants achieve similar levels of education than laundry workers. They're 0.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Laundry worker vs. Sterilizer machine operator

An average sterilizer machine operator eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of laundry workers. The difference in salaries amounts to sterilizer machine operators earning a $4,212 higher average salary than laundry workers.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a laundry worker is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "cleanliness," "clean linen," and "dryers," while a typical sterilizer machine operator is skilled in "filling machines," "general safety," "autoclaves," and "machine operation."

Most sterilizer machine operators achieve a similar degree level compared to laundry workers. For example, they're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Laundry worker vs. Stretcher

Stretchers typically earn higher pay than laundry workers. On average, stretchers earn a $13,639 higher salary per year.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between laundry workers and stretchers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a laundry worker might have more use for skills like "customer service," "cleanliness," "clean linen," and "dryers." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of stretchers require skills like "canvas," "extrusion," "stretchers," and "computer system. "

Stretchers reach similar levels of education compared to laundry workers, in general. The difference is that they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of laundry worker

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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