CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- One man's bright idea is giving the state Capitol's old chandeliers a new shine.

The three Czechoslovakian hand-cut lead crystal chandeliers are receiving their annual cleanings this week. But unlike past years, harsh cleaners are not being used.

Instead the New Hampshire company that has the cleaning contract is using ultrasound technology and de-ionized water to scrub away the dirt and grime that accumulated over the past year.

Chris Campbell, whose father Keith owns Acu-Bright, came up with the idea while researching ultrasound technology for another project. One day he walked into a building and saw a chandelier and the idea hit him.

"It's microscopic implosions of bubbles," he said of the process. "If you look at a piece of glass under a microscope, it's like the moon or a piece of bread; it's concave.

"What the bubbles do is go in and pull the dirt out."

Acu-Bright received a contract to restore the 77-year-old chandeliers in 2007. The company found that over the years the chandeliers had been corroded by chemical cleaning and -- in some places -- held together with paper clips. The fixtures were lowered, disassembled and cleaned by hand, a process that is both risky and time-consuming.

The ultrasound process is 80 percent faster than hand-cleaning, and it saves the chandeliers from possible breakage. Replacement parts can no longer be found.

Also, there are no chemicals to damage the crystal or leave a residue on the glass.

Campbell cleans chandeliers across the country, including in 10 other state capitols, but he said West Virginia's chandeliers are unique.

"They don't come very much larger than that -- the quality with the size is rare," he said.

The chandeliers in the House and Senate chambers each weigh 1,500 pounds, are 15 feet tall and 8 feet wide and are made with 10,080 crystals.

The Rotunda chandelier is 8 feet in diameter and weighs nearly 3,000 pounds. It has 96 light bulbs inside and around 50,000 crystals.