What Does a Laundry Worker Do?
Hotel guests expect fresh sheets when they check in, and hospital patients need linen washed hot enough to kill germs. Laundry workers supply both, sorting, washing, pressing and folding linens and uniforms in hotels, hospitals, dry cleaners and campus laundries. Every piece is checked before it leaves.
Laundry Worker Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a laundry worker include:
- Sort soiled linens and garments by fabric, color and soil level before washing.
- Load and run commercial washers and dryers, selecting the right cycles and chemicals.
- Feed sheets and tablecloths into flatwork ironers and fold them at the other end.
- Press uniforms, shirts and trousers on steam presses and hang them for delivery.
- Treat stains with spotting chemicals, following each fabric's care label.
- Handle soiled hospital linen with gloves and gowns, following infection control rules.
- Count, bag and label finished items, and track orders for each customer or department.
- Inspect finished pieces for stains, tears and missing buttons, and send back items that fail.
- Clean lint traps, machines and floors, and report equipment breakdowns to maintenance.
- Deliver clean linen carts to floors, locker rooms or residence halls and collect soiled bins.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a laundry worker, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Operating commercial washers, dryers and ironers
- Fabric care and stain removal
- Safe handling of laundry chemicals
- Stamina for standing and lifting in hot rooms
- Speed with consistent folding
- An eye for stains and damage
- Following infection control steps
- Basic counting and record keeping
Education and Training
Laundries hire for reliability and stamina, and they rarely ask for a diploma. New staff learn the machines, chemicals and folding standards in a few weeks on the job, the short-term training BLS describes as typical. Workers who stay can move up to presser, lead worker or laundry supervisor.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: $30,360 - $37,560 per year, with a median of $34,890.
The range covers the middle half of earners nationwide. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers.
Employment of laundry and dry-cleaning workers should grow about 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 28,200 openings a year, according to BLS. Jobs are easy to find. And, as long as hospitals and hotels need clean linen every day, laundry workers will be needed to make sure it arrives on time and free of stains.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Laundry and dry-cleaning workers.