How to become a bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning machine operator

Official title: Bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning machine operators

Also called: Fabric bleaching machine operator, Textile dyeing machine operator

Bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning machine operators operate and monitor machines that bleach, shrink, dye and otherwise treat fibres, yarn or cloth.

Main tasks

• Starting and controlling machines and equipment to bleach, dye or otherwise process and finish fabric, yarn, thread and/or other textile goods
• Tending machines that shrink woven or knitted cloth to predetermined size or strengthen the weave by interlocking the fibres
• Tending a variety of automatic machines that comb and polish furs
• Operating and monitoring machines that treat silk to give it body and weight
• Operating and monitoring machines that impregnate textiles with chemicals to render them waterproof
• Dyeing articles to change or restore their colours
• Operating and monitoring machines that stretch or impart lustre or other type of finish to textiles
• Tending and regulating equipment that fumigates and removes foreign matter from furs
• Operating machines that comb, dry and polish furs, and clean, sterilize and fluff feathers and blankets
• Keying in processing instructions to programme electronic equipment

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$20,000 a month
• About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Weaving and knitting machine operators
• Fur and leather preparing machine operators
• Shoemaking and related machine operators
• Textile, fur and leather products machine operators not elsewhere classified
• Fibre preparing, spinning and winding machine operators
• Laundry machine operators

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning machine operator?

Usually not. Only 10% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning machine operator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026