Smooth garments with irons, presses, or steamers.

Smooth garments with irons, presses, or steamers. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 3 occupations and seen in 13 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Operate industrial processing or production equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 13 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Operate steam, hydraulic, or other pressing machines to remove wrinkles from garments and flatwork items, or to shape, form, or patch articles. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.6 · no direct exposure
• Finish pleated garments, determining sizes of pleats from evidence of old pleats or from work orders, using machine presses or hand irons. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Lower irons, rams, or pressing heads of machines into position over material to be pressed. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Finish fancy garments such as evening gowns and costumes, using hand irons to produce high quality finishes. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Push and pull irons over surfaces of articles to smooth or shape them. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Finish pants, jackets, shirts, skirts and other dry-cleaned and laundered articles, using hand irons. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• 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. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Finish velvet garments by steaming them on bucks of hot-head presses or steam tables, and brushing pile (nap) with handbrushes. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Measure fabric to specifications, cut uneven edges with shears, fold material, and press it with an iron to form a heading. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Press garments, using hand irons or pressing machines. · Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Insert heated metal forms into ties and touch up rough places with hand irons. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Press ties on small pressing machines. · Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Iron or press articles, fabrics, and furs, using hand irons or pressing machines. · Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
• Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers
• Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-smooth-garments-with-irons-presses-or-steamers,
  title  = {Smooth garments with irons, presses, or steamers.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/smooth-garments-with-irons-presses-or-steamers}
}