Occupation Details
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
Press or shape articles by hand or machine.
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Interests
Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Conventional
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Values
Achievement
Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Relationships
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$28,030.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$30,260.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$33,560.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
1,230
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
1,420
+19 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
157
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.2%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
Quick Start - High school or less
Experience Requirements
Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.
Education Requirements
Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations involve following instructions and helping others. Examples include food preparation workers, dishwashers, floor sanders and finishers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, logging equipment operators, and baristas.
School Programs
School Programs information is not available for this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
State License and Certifications Requirements are not currently associated with this occupation.
Skills
The list below includes the skills required by workers in this occupation; skills are what allow you to learn more quickly and improve your performance.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Skill level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Knowledge
The list below includes knowledge items, the principles and facts required by this occupation.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Production and Processing
Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Public Safety and Security
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Education and Training
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Administration and Management
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Sales and Marketing
Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Knowledge level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Work Environment
The list below includes the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work in this occupation.
Hover over or tap each factor to see its description.
Work Styles
Included in the list below are the personal work style characteristics that can affect how well a worker is likely to perform in this occupation.
Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Concern for Others
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Cooperation
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Independence
Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Innovation
Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Persistence
Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Social Orientation
Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- Adjustable hand wrenches
- Digital micrometers
- Electric fabric cutters
- Fabric cleaning brushes
- Fabric shears
- Flat pressers
- Guides
- Hand irons
- Handheld sprayers
- Heavy duty ironing boards
- Hoists
- Hydraulic pressing machines
- Industrial sewing machines
- Measuring gauges
- Measuring tapes
- Multipurpose hammers
- Multipurpose hangers
- Multipurpose screwdrivers
- Personal computers
- Puff irons
- Slip joint pliers
- Small pressing machines
- Steam tables
Technology
- Email software
- Microsoft Excel
Duties
Duties are job behaviors describing activities that occur on multiple jobs. The generalized and detailed work activities described in the list below apply to this occupation.
- attach or mark identification onto products or containers
- measure, weigh, or count products or materials
- recognize characteristics of cloth or fabric
- identify type of stain in fabrics, such as wool, synthetics, or silk
- adjust production equipment/machinery setup
- clean equipment or machinery
- install equipment or attachments on machinery or related structures
- examine products or work to verify conformance to specifications
- read specifications
- read tape measure
- read work order, instructions, formulas, or processing charts
- apply cleaning solvents
- load, unload, or stack containers, materials, or products
- block knitted garments
- cut or trim fabric or leather
- package goods for shipment or storage
- press garment or fabric
- remove stains from fabric or carpet
- use hand iron
- wrap products
- spray water, steam, or air over fabric or leather
- spread fabric or clothing article on worktable or ironing board
- load or unload material or workpiece into machinery
- use portable electric fabric cutter
- operate sewing machine
- operate steam press
- operate textile production equipment/machinery
- use hand or power tools
- operate hoist, winch, or hydraulic boom
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers.
- Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles.
- Straighten, smooth, or shape materials to prepare them for pressing.
- Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing.
- Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons.
- Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed.
- Shrink, stretch, or block articles by hand to conform to original measurements, using forms, blocks, and steam.
- Identify and treat spots on garments.
- Finish fancy garments such as evening gowns and costumes, using hand irons to produce high quality finishes.
- Push and pull irons over surfaces of articles to smooth or shape them.
- Finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry-cleaned and laundered articles, using hand irons.
- Slide material back and forth over heated, metal, ball-shaped forms to smooth and press portions of garments that cannot be satisfactorily pressed with flat pressers or hand irons.
- Select appropriate pressing machines, based on garment properties such as heat tolerance.
- Use covering cloths to prevent equipment from damaging delicate fabrics.
- Spray water over fabric to soften fibers when not using steam irons.
- Position materials such as cloth garments, felt, or straw on tables, dies, or feeding mechanisms of pressing machines, or on ironing boards or work tables.
- Examine and measure finished articles to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as tape measures and micrometers.
- Moisten materials to soften and smooth them.
- Finish velvet garments by steaming them on bucks of hot-head presses or steam tables, and brushing pile (nap) with handbrushes.
- Measure fabric to specifications, cut uneven edges with shears, fold material, and press it with an iron to form a heading.
- Clean and maintain pressing machines, using cleaning solutions and lubricants.
- Insert heated metal forms into ties and touch up rough places with hand irons.
- Press ties on small pressing machines.
- Activate and adjust machine controls to regulate temperature and pressure of rollers, ironing shoes, or plates, according to specifications.
- Block or shape knitted garments after cleaning.
- Brush materials made of suede, leather, or felt to remove spots or to raise and smooth naps.
- Sew ends of new material to leaders or to ends of material in pressing machines, using sewing machines.
- Select, install, and adjust machine components, including pressing forms, rollers, and guides, using hoists and hand tools.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Textile, apparel, and furnishings occupations
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
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