What do house cleaners not clean?

By the Honourable Cleaning team, Abbotsford BC · Updated November 10, 2026 · 3 min read

Why it matters

Nearly every complaint about a cleaning service comes down to one sentence: "I assumed that was included." The cleaner did the job they were booked for, the client expected a different job, and both feel short-changed.

Here is a common version. A homeowner in Langley books a standard clean before her in-laws visit. She comes home to shining bathrooms and vacuumed floors, opens the oven to start dinner, and finds it exactly as she left it. She had pictured "a clean house". The booking was for a maintenance clean, which does not include the inside of appliances. A two-line note when booking would have fixed it.

It helps to know there are two different kinds of "no".

Not included, but available. These are jobs a cleaner will do if you ask and allow the time: inside the fridge, inside the oven, inside cupboards, interior windows, baseboards by hand, laundry or dishes. They are left out of a standard clean because they are slow, and including them for everyone would raise the price for people who do not need them. Most services price them as add-ons or cover them in a deep clean.

Not something a house cleaner should do. These are about safety, insurance and training:

Mould beyond surface mildew in a shower. Real mould needs remediation, not a wipe.
Rodent droppings, pest infestations, and blood or other bodily fluids.
Exterior windows, gutters, pressure washing and anything on a ladder above a step stool.
Lifting heavy furniture or appliances that are not on rollers.
Carpet steam cleaning and upholstery extraction, which need their own machines.
Hoarding-level clutter, which is a different service with a different crew size.

When a cleaner says no to something on that second list, it is usually a sign they know their limits, and that is what you want from someone working in your home. They should also be able to tell you who to call instead.

How Honourable Cleaning helps

We try to remove the guessing before you pay. When you book, you choose a standard, deep or move-in/move-out clean, and the booking form has a notes box for anything outside that service. If you want the inside of the fridge done on a standard clean, write it there and we confirm any extra cost before the visit. You can also tap what matters most to you, such as kitchen, bathrooms, baseboards or pet hair, so the crew knows where to spend the time.

Our prices assume a normal, lived-in home. If the crew arrives and the job needs more time than that, they tell you on the day and ask before doing any extra work. You are never billed for time you did not approve.

For jobs that belong to another trade, such as mould remediation, we will say so plainly rather than attempt it badly.

Key takeaways

Read what your service includes before booking, and list anything extra in writing. "Inside the oven, please" takes five seconds.
Expect a standard clean to cover surfaces, bathrooms, kitchen exteriors and floors, not the inside of appliances or cupboards.
Mould, pests, bodily fluids, ladders and heavy lifting are specialist jobs. Hire the right trade for those.
If one job matters more than the rest, say so. A crew with a clear priority will always do that part first.

See your exact price

Pick your home size and service. Your flat rate shows up in about a minute, no phone call needed.