I washed them before use by hand and, one of the rings on the lid looked like it had rust on it so, I used a cleanser for rust and it came off. It was the ring that makes it air thight. I took it off of the lid to clean. Fine now, They are very pretty. TIME LAPSE: after actually using these there was a problem . the lids have a little hole and water got in there from washing and the ceramic inside at top was not sealed all the way around the top inside canisters.I had to throw away sugar twice once from being damp then, too hard also, had to throw away tea bags, they had mold on them in about 3 weeks of use.It was a defect in the making of them. However, Wayfair was VERY nice and, understanding and, help me with my problem. I'm COMPLETELY SATISFIED with the way I was treated.WAYFAIR is the right name for this company.