Note that new springs are NOT painted. They have a black oxide finish that is developed from the heat during the tempering process, it is the same type coating you find on hot rolled steel.
When cleaning the springs, be very careful disassembling them, they pack a lot of stored energy and can easily break an ankle or worse if they suddenly pop apart. Wear heavy work gloves and work shoes. Lay the spring on it's side on the floor, put two large heavy C-clamps on it, one on each side of the centerbolt. Stand on top the spring to keep you feet in a safe place in case the spring suddenly blows apart, and unscrew the nut on the centerbolt until there is only a couple threads left (don't remove it completely yet) then slowly loosen the clamps 1/4 turn at a time alternating between them as you go. When the clamps have released the spring enough that the centerbolt tightens again stop loosening them and remove the centerbolt nut. Now finish slowly releasing the clamps.
Clean the spring leafs with a wire brush or straight line sander like a belt sander, and sand lengthwise only, never crossways. smooth and round the ends of the leafs where they rub.
Don't paint them (except maybe the edges). If you must have color on them, use a product called Rust Reformer by Rustoleum available in the spray paint dept at your local big box DIY store. It's more expensive than paint, but it goes a long ways since it is not a paint but chemically reacts with any remaining rust to form a similar coating to the original black oxide. Be sure to read and heed the directions carefully.

 

One thing I've learned... smoothly sliding spring leaves mean your shocks have to work a lot harder. My left front is soaked with gear oil from the steering box and the shocks could just not dampen it. I had to upgrade front shocks.

 

I hope you soaked the right spring so they both work like they were supposed to!
Years ago to make early buggy spring cars (mostly Fords thru '48) ride better, we would disassemble the springs, cut strips of window screen for between the leaves and pack them with the thickest grease we could find. the rebuild was finished by wrapping the entire spring in electrical tape to keep the grease in and the dirt out. Today the HMW plastic strips do the same thing but are much cleaner and better looking.