I took mine loose from the car, cleaned them with brake cleaner, then dawn dish soap and a brush, then brake cleaner again. I never took them off teh hose. I just used wire to hold them up where I could paint them. I taped off the piston area and then painted mine with high temp engine paint. This paint is pretty cheap and will hold up, unless you auto-cross or really abuse your brakes. It looks good on my wife's 04 Monte with 51K miles.