---
title: "Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operator and Tender"
description: "Operate or tend machines to bleach, shrink, wash, dye, or finish textiles or synthetic or glass fibers."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/textile-bleaching-and-dyeing-machine-operator-and-tender"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operator and Tender

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-6061 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-6061.00

Operate or tend machines to bleach, shrink, wash, dye, or finish textiles or synthetic or glass fibers.

Also advertised as: Beck Operator; Dye House Worker; Dye Line Operator; Dye Machine Operator; Dye Operator; Dye Tub Operator; Dyer; Jet Dyeing Machine Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $38,180 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $18.36/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $30,300 to $48,100, with the middle half between $35,680 and $45,280
- **Total US employment:** 5,310
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -12.5% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 43/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 5,310 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $30,300 |
| 25th | $35,680 |
| 50th (median) | $38,180 |
| 75th | $45,280 |
| 90th | $48,100 |
| Mean (average) | $40,380 |

### Pay by state

The 14 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RI | $45,930 | $44,906 | 210 |
| MI | $44,720 | $46,478 | 60 |
| MS | $43,640 | $50,188 | 80 |
| GA | $41,960 | $43,575 | 490 |
| SC | $39,410 | $42,038 | 770 |
| NY | $39,030 | $36,165 | 120 |
| PA | $38,420 | $39,376 | 250 |
| NC | $37,610 | $39,872 | 980 |
| TN | $37,410 | $40,721 | 270 |
| CA | $36,670 | $33,120 | 880 |
| NJ | $36,570 | $33,611 | 140 |
| AL | $33,190 | $37,366 | 100 |
| WI | $30,930 | $32,871 | 90 |
| FL | $29,850 | $28,865 | 100 |

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 5,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 5,000 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 700 jobs, or -12.5%. Declining: -12.5% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 56.0% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 35.3% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 6.4% |
| Some College Courses | 2.3% |

## What the work involves

- Adjust equipment controls to maintain specified heat, tension, and speed.
- Notify supervisors or mechanics of equipment malfunctions.
- Start and control machines and equipment to wash, bleach, dye, or otherwise process and finish fabric, yarn, thread, or other textile goods.
- Confer with coworkers to get information about order details, processing plans, or problems that occur.
- Monitor factors such as temperatures and dye flow rates to ensure that they are within specified ranges.
- Examine and feel products to identify defects and variations from coloring and other processing standards.
- Add dyes, water, detergents, or chemicals to tanks to dilute or strengthen solutions, according to established formulas and solution test results.
- Inspect machinery to determine necessary adjustments and repairs.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Visual Color Discrimination — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.77 |
| C — Conventional | 4.18 |
| I — Investigative | 2.07 |
| A — Artistic | 1.27 |
| S — Social | 1.27 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.21 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 88.5 |
| ISTP | 76.2 |
| ISFJ | 74.7 |
| ESTJ | 72.4 |
| INTJ | 65.0 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cleaning-washing-and-metal-pickling-equipment-operator-and-tender) — median $43,530
- [Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $46,460
- [Machine Feeder and Offbearer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/machine-feeder-and-offbearer) — median $41,220
- [Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furnace-kiln-oven-drier-and-kettle-operator-and-tender) — median $48,040
- [Extruding and Forming Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Synthetic and Glass Fiber](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber) — median $46,350
- [Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laundry-and-dry-cleaning-worker) — median $34,890
- [Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-forming-pressing-and-compacting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $45,760
- [Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/textile-knitting-and-weaving-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $39,530
- [Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/separating-filtering-clarifying-precipitating-and-still-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $51,610
- [Textile Cutting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/textile-cutting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $38,760

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

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