Sorry for real stupid question. But it does not work either way.
This should do it:
var clone = $('div.content').clone();
clone.find('.dontgrab').remove();
var html = clone.html();
I think you are trying to do:
var htmlcontent = $('.content').remove(".dontgrab").html();
You could use .not() if the situation was like:
var htmlcontent = $('div').not(".dontgrab").html();
<body>
<div class="content">
BEFORE
AFTER
</div>
<div class="content dontgrab">DON'T GRAB</div>
</body>
I dont think you can use .not for selected elements children. I hope it helps