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Textile dyeing technician

  • Hours

    37-40 per week

  • Starting salary

    £15,000 + per year



The work

As a textile dyeing technician you would create dyes to colour fibres, yarns and fabrics. Your job would be to mix the chemical 'recipe' for dyeing both natural and synthetic textiles.

Your work would involve:

  • deciding which chemical dye formula would create the right colour
  • working out the right dyeing method and temperature for the fabric
  • making up a sample dye and checking to make sure it produces the right results
  • producing a final formula for use in the manufacturing process
  • recommending any special finishes or treatments to be applied after the dying process.

You would keep a record of the dye's chemical mix so that you could use it again to get the same results. You would also use these records to check the process if a problem occurs after a fabric has left the factory. The work can be highly technical, and you are likely to use computer-controlled instruments to mix dyes.


Hours

In a full-time job, you would usually work from 37 to 40 hours a week, possibly on a shift system.

You would typically be based in a factory dye house or in the laboratory of a specialist dyeing company. Conditions could get hot and humid, although modern dye houses have ventilation equipment to deal with fumes and steam.

You would wear protective clothing in the dyeing area, including overalls and safety footwear.


Income

  • Starting salaries are between £15,000 and £20,000 a year.
  • Experienced technicians can earn more than £30,000 a year.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.


Entry requirements

You would usually need a high level of scientific knowledge to work as a textile dyeing technician. Employers may ask for either a foundation degree, BTEC HNC/HND or degree, in subjects like chemistry, chemical engineering, colour science or physics.

Other relevant courses include:

  • City & Guilds Certificate in the Principles and Practice of Textile Manufacture at Level 3
  • BTEC National Certificate and Diploma in Textiles.

You could also take a fashion and textiles course that covers the manufacturing process. To search for foundation degrees, HNDs and degrees, see the UCAS website.

You may be able to start as technician Apprentice with a manufacturer or dye-specialist company. The range of Apprenticeships available in your area will depend on the local jobs market and the types of skills employers need from their workers. To find out more about Apprenticeships, visit the Apprenticeships website.

You would be expected to have good eyesight and normal colour vision to do this job.


Training and development

Once you are working, you could take the NVQ in Manufacturing Textiles (4132) at levels 1 to 3, with options in textile dyeing, including the development and testing of colour recipes.

You could improve your career prospects by applying for membership of the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC). They offer various levels of membership and professional development training in areas such as dye and textile colouration, the chemistry of colourants and preparation, dyeing and finishing. For more details, see the SDC website.

The Textile Institute (TI) also offers professional development training and qualifications for members at various levels. See the TI website for more information.


Skills and knowledge

  • a good understanding of the chemistry involved in the dyeing process
  • good practical and problem solving skills
  • a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail
  • good communication skills
  • the ability to work as part of a team and on your own
  • good IT skills.

More information

Technical Textiles (Opens new window)
www.techtextiles.co.uk/

Textile Institute (Opens new window)
1st Floor
St James's Buildings
Oxford Street
Manchester
M1 6FQ
Tel: 0161 237 1188
www.textileinstitute.org

Society of Dyers and Colourists (Opens new window)
PO Box 244
Perkin House
82 Grattan Road
Bradford
BD1 2JB
Tel: 01274 725138
www.sdc.org.uk

Creative Skillset Careers (Opens new window)
Tel: 08080 300 900 (England and Northern Ireland)
Tel: 0845 850 2502(Scotland)
Tel: 08000 121 815 (Wales)
www.creativeskillset.org/careers

Creative Skillset (Opens new window)
Focus Point
21 Caledonian Road
London
N1 9GB
www.creativeskillset.org


Opportunities

You are likely to find work with clothing and textiles companies, which are mainly based in the East Midlands, north-west, Yorkshire, and parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Jobs are advertised in the press, Jobcentre Plus, on company websites and Directgov (Jobseekers page).

With experience, you could move into research and development, management or technical sales, where you would act as a link between dye suppliers and textile manufacturers.

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (Opens in a new window) there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.


Related industry information

Industry summary

The textiles industry is part of the fashion and textiles sector, which is represented by Creative Skillset, which also includes: apparel; textiles; and footwear and leather; advertising; animation; computer games; facilities; film; interactive media; photo imaging; publishing; radio; and television. The fashion and textiles sector as a whole employs an estimated 340,000 people across 79,000 enterprises, which are predominately small and medium sized employers. The sector contributes around £10 billion to the UK economy each year, but due to the current economic downturn, product exports have fallen. However, employment in the sector has remained relatively stable level.

The apparel industry includes the: processing of yarns and fibres; dyeing and finishing of yarns, threads and fabrics; manufacture of textile articles, such as soft furnishings; production of carpets; and the production and development of new textiles and fibres, including technical textiles. Recent manufacturing output of the industry has declined, but productivity has risen where it has remained virtually static across the wider manufacturing sector. A few businesses in the fashion and textiles sector as a whole have made redundancies or reduced staff hours, as a result of the current economic climate. Technical markets and overseas businesses have also been hard hit.

Key facts:

  • The industry contributes around £4.1 billion to the UK economy each year.
  • Around 105,000 people are employed in the industry.
  • There are around 26,000 businesses, of which around 20,000 are sole traders.
  • The businesses in this sector tend to be small or medium‐sized, employing 250 people or fewer.

Jobs in the industry range from:

  • Process operatives – beamer; blender; carder; textile colour technologist
  • Technician staff – loom tuner/technician; tufting tuner/technician
  • Technical staff – textile technologist
  • Design staff – carpet designer; textile designer
  • Production staff – production manager/director; technical manager/director

National and regional data

The greatest concentrations of textile activity are in West Yorkshire (Kirklees and Bradford) and Lancashire (Rochdale and Manchester). Across all regions it is estimated that there will be a substantial decline in the total level of employment in textile manufacturing to 2017.

East Midlands – There are over 9,000 people employed in the region. Leicester City has the largest industry workforce, followed by Amber Valley (Derbyshire) and Derby.

East of England – There are more than 4,000 people employed within the industry in the region, who are mainly located in Babergh in South Suffolk, Luton and South Cambridgeshire.

London – London employs around 10,000 people in the industry. Westminster has the largest number of people employed in textiles, with the bulk of the remainder split pretty evenly between Brent, Hackney, Wandsworth and Kensington.

North East – There are over 2,000 people employed within the industry in the region, which represents a small proportion of the total UK employment in this sector. County Durham has the largest number of people employed, followed by Darlington.

North West – There are almost 20,000 people employed within the industry in the region. Tameside has the largest share, followed by Manchester, Rochdale Bury and Blackburn.

South East – There are over 9,000 people employed within the industry in the region, which is evenly distributed around the districts of Aylesbury Vale, Wealdon (East Sussex), Windsor and Maidenhead, Test valley (Hants) and Brighton.

South West – There are around 4,000 people employed within the industry, who are mainly working in Mid Devon and East Devon.

West Midlands – There are over 6,000 people employed within the industry. Wyre Forest has the largest number of people employed in textiles.

Yorkshire and the Humber – There are over 13,000 people employed within the industry, making it one of the largest regions for textiles in the UK. Kirklees and Bradford have the largest number of people employed in the textiles industry.

[N.B. Data derived from Annual Business Inquiry, 2007.]


Career paths


Further sources


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