Career
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders
Run machines that clean and wash products and materials.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
- Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
- Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
- Drain, clean, and refill machines or tanks at designated intervals, using cleaning solutions or water.
- Operate or tend machines to wash and remove impurities from items such as barrels or kegs, glass products, tin plate surfaces, dried fruit, pulp, animal stock, coal, manufactured articles, plastic, or rubber.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Active Listening, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $43,530 a year and 1,700 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$51,610 · -5.7%
- Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$48,990 · -6.1%
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders$48,040 · +2.6%
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders$38,180 · -12.5%
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$34,890 · +4.3%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.