65320 Dry cleaning, laundry and related occupations

What this occupation covers

Dry cleaning and laundry machine operators operate machines to dry-clean or launder garments and other articles. Dry cleaning and laundry inspectors and assemblers check finished garments and other articles to ensure that they meet required standards for dry-cleaning, laundering and pressing, and assemble and bag finished garments and other articles. This unit group also includes workers who iron, press or otherwise finish garments and household articles. They are employed in dry cleaning, laundry and fur cleaning establishments, and in the laundries of hotels, hospitals and other institutions.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 16 main duties for this code.

• Operate dry cleaning machines to dry-clean dresses, suits, coats, sweaters and other garments, draperies, cushion covers and other articles
• Sort garments and operate washing machines and dryers to clean and dry clothing, sheets, blankets, towels and other articles
• Operate machines to clean and blow-dry fur garments
• Operate machines to dry-clean, dye, spray, re-oil, and re-buff suede and leather garments
• Mix and add detergents, dyes, bleaches, starches and other solutions and chemicals.
• Check finished garments and other articles to ensure that they are properly dry-cleaned or laundered
• Record damaged or improperly dry-cleaned or laundered garments and other articles
• Use hand-held steam iron to touch up finished garments and other articles
• Assemble and bag finished garments and other articles
• Match invoices with tags on garments or other articles.
• Operate finishing equipment such as steam pressers, and use hand irons to finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry cleaned and laundered articles
• Hand iron laundered fine linens or dry-cleaned silk garments
• Operate fur ironing and glazing equipment to finish fur garments and other fur articles
• Fold and bag dry cleaned and laundered articles
• May operate laundering equipment.
• Workers in this group may specialize in finishing suede, leather, fur and delicate articles.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 3 of its 16 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 64200 Tailors, dressmakers, furriers and milliners
• 60040 Managers in customer and personal services
• 62029 Other services supervisors

Excluded from this code

• Alterations dressmaker AND alterations seamstress (See 64200 Tailors, dressmakers, furriers and milliners)
• Dry cleaning service manager (See 60040 Managers in customer and personal services)
• Dry cleaning supervisor (See 62029 Other services supervisors)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

apprentice dry cleaner · assembler - laundry and dry cleaning · bagger - laundry and dry cleaning · blocker - laundry and dry cleaning · checker - laundry and dry cleaning · cleaner - laundry and dry cleaning · cleaner and presser - laundry and dry cleaning · cleaning machine operator - laundry and dry cleaning · clothes presser - laundry and dry cleaning · clothing ironer - laundry and dry cleaning · curtain and drapery presser - laundry and dry cleaning · drapery cleaner · drapery cleaner - laundry and dry cleaning · dry cleaner · dry cleaner helper · dry cleaning machine operator - laundry and dry cleaning · dry cleaning machine operator helper · dyer - laundry and dry cleaning · extractor operator - laundry and dry cleaning · feather renovator · finisher - laundry and dry cleaning · flatwork finisher - laundry and dry cleaning · flatwork folder - laundry and dry cleaning · flatwork ironer - laundry and dry cleaning

Employment requirements

• Some secondary school education is required.
• Four to eight weeks of on-the-job training are usually provided.
• Dry cleaning and laundry machine operators may require experience as inspectors or assemblers.
• Suede, leather and fur cleaners may require experience as dry cleaning or laundry machine operators.