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Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
Keeps schools, offices, hotels, hospitals and homes clean and safe.
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Custodians and janitors clean and look after buildings: floors, restrooms, trash, small repairs and setting up rooms. Housekeepers clean hotel rooms, hospital rooms and homes. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers and pressers wash, clean and press clothes and linens, and locker room attendants look after gyms and clubs. Experienced workers can become supervisors who schedule and train a crew, or start their own cleaning business. The work is on your feet and uses cleaning chemicals, so safety training matters.
Open the custodian or housekeeper guide
The guide checks the courses against your plan, with things to try each year. Free account needed.
High school courses that build toward it
- English 10 · English
Builds reading and writing, which this job uses.
- Foods and Culinary · Career and Technical
Builds how things are made, which this job uses.
- Chemistry · Science
Builds chemistry, which this job uses.
- Physical Education · Health and PE
Builds working with customers and clients, which this job uses.
- Pre-Algebra · Math
Builds math, which this job uses.
- Computer Science Principles · Computer Science
Builds computers and electronics, which this job uses.
Ranked by how much the job relies on what each course teaches, from O*NET's knowledge ratings. Your school's own courses and the counselor have the final word.
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers on O*NET OnLine · O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections 2025.