What Do House Cleaners Actually Not Do?

House cleaners do not do everything, and the limits fall into three groups. Some tasks are real services that sit outside the standard scope as paid add-ons — inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows. Others are refused for crew safety, and some belong to a different trade entirely.

Knowing which is which before you book prevents almost every disappointed-expectations conversation in this industry. Here is the full picture, including the parts that are simply "no."

What is inside a standard visit?

A written cleaning scope, run the same way in every home — on deep cleans and move-outs, the full 50-Point Checklist. It is published in full and breaks down like this:

That covers surfaces, sinks, appliance exteriors, toilets, tubs, showers, mirrors, baseboards, cobwebs, vent covers, floors, and trash. You can read every line item on the 50-Point Checklist page before you book.

Anything not on that list is either an add-on you request, or something we do not do.

What are the paid add-ons?

Real work, priced separately because it takes real extra time. These are the extras Art's Cleaning Services publishes, and each one has to be requested when you book rather than sprung on the crew:

1. Inside the oven — baked-on grease and the racks.
2. Inside the fridge — shelves, drawers, and seals.
3. Interior windows — glass, tracks, and sills.
4. Inside cabinets — all shelves and organizers wiped.
5. Bed making or linen change — beds made, or fresh linens put on.
6. Organization — closets, pantry, and storage tidied.
7. Load and run the dishwasher — loaded, soaped, and started.
8. Laundry and folding — washed, dried, folded, and put away.

The first three are the ones people most often assume are included. They are not part of the 50, and that is deliberate — bundling them would raise the base price for every household that does not want them.

Ask for add-ons at quote time. We reply as soon as possible during business hours, and the figure you get back already includes them.

In scope, add-on, or not at all?

The fastest way to see where any task sits.

What do you not do at all, and why?

Six categories, and none of them are negotiable. Our published service terms set these boundaries, and they exist to keep crews safe and to stop us pretending to competence we do not have.

Biohazards. Human or animal waste, blood, bodily fluids, needles, and similar materials. This is specialist work with specialist protective equipment, and a house cleaning crew is not equipped for it.

Mold remediation. We treat routine surface mildew in a bathroom as part of a deep clean — grout scrubbed, mildew treated. Actual remediation, where there is mold in the structure, is a different trade and we will tell you so rather than wipe it and leave.

Pest issues. We do not clean areas that are infested with insects or rodents, and we do not do pest control. Cleaning around an active infestation solves nothing and spreads the problem.

Heavy lifting. Anything that takes more than one person to move safely, or that risks injury or damage. Crews will clean behind and under what moves easily; they will not shift a refrigerator or a loaded bookcase.

Working at height. Beyond what is safely reachable from a standard three-step ladder. That rules out high chandeliers, vaulted-ceiling fixtures, and second-story exterior glass.

Exterior work. Outside windows, second-story exterior surfaces, pressure washing, patios, and driveways. Our scope stops at the interior of the home.

We would rather turn work down than take money for something we cannot do properly. If your job needs one of these, say so when you request a quote and we will tell you honestly whether it is ours.

Do house cleaners move furniture?

Only what moves easily and safely. Crews vacuum under a bed where it is accessible, pull out a light chair, and clean around furniture rather than under everything.

Appliances and heavy pieces stay where they are. If you want behind the fridge or the stove cleaned, move it before the visit and the crew will handle the surface.

This is a safety boundary rather than a willingness one. A cleaner injured moving your sofa is a far worse outcome than a patch of unswept floor.

Do house cleaners do laundry and dishes?

Both are available as add-ons, and neither is included by default. Load-and-run the dishwasher and full laundry with folding are on the published extras list.

The reason they are separate is timing. Laundry consumes the visit in a way clients rarely anticipate, since a crew ends up waiting on machine cycles instead of cleaning surfaces.

Do house cleaners clean windows?

Interior windows, yes, as a paid add-on covering glass, tracks, and sills. Exterior windows and any second-story exterior surface, no.

That distinction catches people out, particularly in two-story Orange County homes where the inside and outside of the same pane are two different jobs. Only one of them is ours.

For Los Angeles high-rise units, exterior glass is almost always handled by a building-appointed vendor on the building's schedule. Ask your management rather than your cleaner.

Do house cleaners organize or declutter?

Light tidying is part of the checklist — surfaces straightened, cushions fluffed, beds made where that is requested. Genuine organizing of closets, pantries, and storage is a separate add-on.

What no cleaning crew should do is decide what your belongings are worth. We tidy and we wipe; we do not sort, discard, or rearrange your things without instruction.

Clutter also slows a visit down more than anything else. Our guide on how to prepare for a cleaning crew covers the fifteen minutes of prep that buys back the most cleaning time.

Does a deep clean or a move-out change what is included?

Yes, substantially, though the three headline add-ons stay add-ons. A deep cleaning adds grout scrubbing, mildew treatment, chrome polished dry, ceiling fan blades top and bottom, blinds, window sills, and stairs.

A move-out cleaning goes further again — inside all cabinets and drawers, wall marks and scuffs removed, light switch covers deep cleaned, baseboards hand-washed. Allison Giffin's move-out is the case for booking it: after her renters left, "the entire kitchen, including the ceiling, chandelier, & cabinets, was covered in cooking oil."

Inside the oven and inside the fridge remain paid extras even on a move-out. If your landlord's checklist names them, add them at booking so the quote is right the first time.

Does scope differ between Orange County and Los Angeles?

The boundaries are identical. What differs is which limits you actually run into, because the housing stock is so different.

One thing worth flagging for Westside clients: we clean the inside of your unit, not the corridor, the lobby, or the shared laundry room. Those sit with the building, and asking a residential crew to take them on is asking for a scope dispute.

For what the in-scope work actually costs in each region, see our Irvine cost guide or the West LA and Santa Monica cost guide.

The bottom line

Everything on the published checklist for your service is included. Inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows, laundry, dishes and organizing are real services priced as add-ons. Biohazard, mold remediation, pest work, heavy lifting, work at height, and anything on the outside of your home are not ours at all.

Across 5,000+ homes cleaned since 2021, publishing those lines has been the simplest way to keep expectations and results in the same place. And when something inside the scope does get missed, tell us within 24 hours and we come back to re-clean it free.

If you are not sure which side of the line your job falls on, ask before you book — start with House Cleaning and describe the job honestly. We would rather say no early than disappoint you on the day.