Details for Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
Description
Press or shape articles by hand or machine.
Tasks
- Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles.
- Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed.
- Remove finished pieces from pressing machines and hang or stack them for cooling, or forward them for additional processing.
- Hang, fold, package, and tag finished articles for delivery to customers.
- 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.
- Push and pull irons over surfaces of articles to smooth or shape them.
- Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons.
- Straighten, smooth, or shape materials to prepare them for pressing.
- Finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry-cleaned and laundered articles, using hand 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.
- Spray water over fabric to soften fibers when not using steam irons.
- 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.
- Finish fancy garments such as evening gowns and costumes, using hand irons to produce high quality finishes.
- Activate and adjust machine controls to regulate temperature and pressure of rollers, ironing shoes, or plates, according to specifications.
- Shrink, stretch, or block articles by hand to conform to original measurements, using forms, blocks, and steam.
- Clean and maintain pressing machines, using cleaning solutions and lubricants.
- Block or shape knitted garments after cleaning.
- Insert heated metal forms into ties and touch up rough places with hand irons.
- Brush materials made of suede, leather, or felt to remove spots or to raise and smooth naps.
- Use covering cloths to prevent equipment from damaging delicate fabrics.
- Press ties on small pressing machines.
- Select, install, and adjust machine components, including pressing forms, rollers, and guides, using hoists and hand tools.
- Examine and measure finished articles to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as tape measures and micrometers.
- Sew ends of new material to leaders or to ends of material in pressing machines, using sewing machines.
- Measure fabric to specifications, cut uneven edges with shears, fold material, and press it with an iron to form a heading.
- Identify and treat spots on garments.
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.
Education, training, experience
- Education - Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
- Training - 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.
- Experience - 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.
Knowledge
None found.
Skills
None found.
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