First take your brakes apart, and off the bike.
Use brake cleaner, get it at any autoparts store, or wal-mart, for the non-painted parts and rims, dish soap for the painted parts, like the frame.
The pads will be fine once cleaned.
Put new grease on the posts, and reassemble.

Now to your original problem, you can fix your breaks by adjusting the 'toe' of the pads. You want the front to contact the rim first.