Hiring a professional house cleaner can be nerve-wracking. After all, you're inviting someone to see your home at its messiest. And, since hiring a cleaning service is an added expense, you want to get the most out of the experience as possible. Before you hire someone, it's important to understand what they will—and won't—clean for you.
If you have an understanding of what's common for a house cleaner to tackle, you'll feel confident going into your initial conversations. Cleaning professional Ryan Schutz of Two Maids and a Mop is sharing what a typical cleaning includes, as well as a few surprising areas a house cleaner probably won't clean.
What Does a Typical House Cleaning Include?
A typical house cleaning service includes dusting, vacuuming, and mopping of your interior rooms. Bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens, are usually included. A cleaner will wipe down horizontal surfaces, such as countertops and window ledges, and they will clean the window interiors. A typical clean might also include tidying and organizing depending on the priorities you set with your cleaner.
Deep Cleaning vs. Maintenance Cleaning
Some cleaning companies delineate between a deep clean and a maintenance clean. Unless your home has been professionally and regularly cleaned, you will likely start out with a one-time deep clean. During this service, the cleaners will scrub all surfaces, such as baseboards, cabinet fronts, blinds and more.
After that, you will be placed on a maintenance schedule with shorter but more frequent cleans. Maintenance cleans include dusting, vacuuming, and mopping, cleaning of horizontal surfaces, and spot-cleaning of vertical surfaces such as walls and cabinet fronts.
Set Expectations Beforehand
Before hiring a house cleaner, it's important to be on the same page about your expectations. There are certain areas of your house that may or may not be included in a typical clean. On an initial phone call, the cleaner will ask about square footage, the number of rooms, and your priorities for the clean.
It's also a good idea to also ask for a walk through of your home. A walk-through allows you to show the cleaner your areas of highest need. If you're an active cook, you may want your cleaner's time (and budget) focused on the kitchen. Other households need more help with tidying and organizing before cleaning can begin. After the walk through, the cleaner should be able to give you an accurate quote and begin services. They will also have detailed notes that can be kept in your file, so that anyone who comes to clean knows exactly what to do.
What a House Cleaner Won't Clean
1. Exterior Spaces
You may guess that a house cleaner won't powerwash your siding, but they also don't clean areas closer to the house. "We stay within the walls of your home," Schutz says. This means that porches, patios, and garages are outside the purview of most house cleaners. External window washing is also not a typical service.
2. Extreme Heights
If you hire a residential cleaner (versus a commercial cleaner), don't expect them to bring in an eight-foot ladder to clean your beams. Cleaners will clean what's in "reasonable reach," Schutz says. This means they'll only tackle things they can reach with an extendable duster and a two-step ladder. Reasonable reach also extends to deep spaces, such as inside vents.
3. Environmental Hazards
Dangerous substances, such as mold or a pest infestation, need to be remedied by a separate professional before a house cleaner will come in. "We’ll still work on other parts of the home," Shcutz says, which means you could have a remediation crew and a cleaning crew working simultaneously if you're on a time crunch. "It may take hours to clean the the hard water stains off your shower, and we’ll work through that, but if there’s tons of black mold, we can't work on that part."
Environmental hazards include things such as:
- Mold
- Pests or pest droppings
- Hoarding
4. Carpets
While a house cleaner will vacuum your carpets, they might not do steam cleaning, as it requires separate equipment. Check with a cleaner before you hire them if this is a service you need.
5. Vertical Surfaces
Vertical surfaces, such as walls, baseboards, cabinet fronts, and blinds will typically only be spot-cleaned during a regular session. These areas may only be scrubbed if you specify them as a need or hire a cleaner for a deep clean.
Source: Wolner, A. (2025, April 19). 5 Surprising Things Your House Cleaner Won't Touch. Better Homes & Gardens. https://www.bhg.com/what-house-cleaners-wont-clean-8758808