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Dry cleaner

Alternative titles for this job include

Dry cleaners use chemicals and solvents to clean clothes and other items that cannot be washed in the normal way.

Average salary (a year)

£14,000 Starter

to

£18,000 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

39 to 41 a week

You could work

weekends

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become a dry cleaner

You can get into this job through:

  • an apprenticeship
  • applying directly

Apprenticeship

You could start by doing a textile care operative intermediate apprenticeship.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

More Information

Direct Application

You could apply directly for jobs. Employers will often be more interested in your personal qualities like reliability, timekeeping and customer care than qualifications.

More Information

Career tips

Retail sales experience could be useful.

Further information

You can find out more about working in laundry and dry cleaning services through the Guild of Cleaners and Launderers.

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • the ability to use your initiative
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • customer service skills
  • physical skills like lifting, bending and carrying
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

On a typical day you could:

  • take items from customers and give them a collection ticket
  • sort items according to colour and fabric type and check for damage
  • tag the articles with bar codes or computer chips for easy identification
  • treat heavy stains before cleaning by 'spotting' with chemicals
  • weigh items and load them into machines
  • programme machines to match the fabric and the amount of soiling
  • add cleaning fluids and chemicals
  • check, press, fold or hang the items after cleaning
  • return cleaned items back to customers and handle payments
  • keep work areas clean and tidy
  • fill out paperwork

Working environment

You could work at a store, at a laundry or in a factory.

You may need to wear protective clothing.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

In a dry-cleaning plant you could become a supervisor or manager.

In a dry cleaning shop, you could be promoted to store manager. If your shop is part of a chain, you may be able to progress to running a larger shop, or to area or district management.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a dry cleaner right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Are you interested in becoming a dry cleaner?

Search for training courses near you.

Jobs In the United Kingdom

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