A married couple is spending their time cleaning filthy street signs—with dreams of traveling across the country until they are all spotless.
Paul and Ruth Richmond-Watson started scrubbing street signs in September after feeling the urge to find a new hobby they could do together.
“We are both autistic with ADHD, so we are quite creative and a bit weird,” explained Paul, who is a former window washer himself. “We just thought we could really make this work.”
The duo in Brighton, England, had noticed that a lot of their local traffic signage was unreadable at night due to the grime, so they got to work clearing it themselves.
The couple are now cleaning at least one sign a day, taking videos to post on social media.
Although they’re only cleaning locally in East Sussex at the moment, Paul says they have dreams of road tripping across the UK to cover more ground.
Originally from New Zealand, the 47-year-old said the couple is “very community focused”.
“Neighbors just don’t ‘neighbor’ anymore, and we wanted to do something that would help out.
“It was for our mental health as well, to get out-and-about and have a reason to leave the house.
“Britain is quite unique in having filthy road signs. It is a bit of a state really, and we are just trying to smarten it up.”
Also, they had seen some window washers advertising their businesses by cleaning signs, which is what inspired them to get started—and they instantly fell in love with the hobby, and decided to start doing it full-time.
The newlyweds fund their own efforts, but also gained a couple sponsorships—with supply companies.
On average, it takes around 20-25 minutes for each sign, using a backpack water pump with a hose, a snow foam gun with environmentally-friendly foam, and a long-handled brush.
25-year-old Ruth said, “A lot of dirty signs are hard to read, especially at night. We notice patterns, so we were always commenting on it when we were driving around.”
“The first one that we did, it was a bit of a learning curve but, it was so satisfying and fun. It is quite a bonding experience for us.”
Since posting on their Instagram account @Filthy_signs, the pair have received lots of supportive comments, and are being recognized by other locals.
“Driving past it a few weeks later and seeing it still sparkle is amazing,” said Paul. “You feel quite proud of yourself.
“Everyone is really behind us. It has been incredible. It is overwhelming in a good way. We didn’t expect it to blow up like this, and are just literally having fun.”
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