The role of a doffer is to remove empty spindles or bobbins from machines in a cotton or textile factory and replace them with new ones. Doffers are most commonly employed in countries where clothing and other textiles are manufactured in very large plants.

What did doffers do?

A doffer is someone who removes ("doffs") bobbins, pirns or spindles holding spun fiber such as cotton or wool from a spinning frame and replaces them with empty ones. Historically, spinners, doffers, and sweepers each had separate tasks that were required in the manufacture of spun textiles.

What were the jobs in a cotton mill?

The spinning room was almost always female-dominated, and women sometimes also worked as weavers or drawing-in hands. Boys were usually employed as doffers or sweepers, and men worked as weavers, loom fixers, carders, or supervisors. Mill workers usually worked six twelve-hour days each week.