/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Are there any painters out there?

I bought my first small spray gun (which matches my small air compressor). The only gun I could find that matched my CFM was a 4oz detail gun.
I only plan on doing some small work, repainting small parts and tools and such so thats fine.
I want to use Rustoleum thinned with acetone like a bunch of youtube videos show.

My gun makes a BIG deal about "cleaning" the gun between every coat, or if the gun is going to sit for more than 5 minutes.

For in between coats, what exactly does that entail?
Each coat is going to take longer than 5 minutes to dry, so do I just dump the paint out of the gun back into the mixing cup and just spray straight acetone?

If 5 minutes is all it takes for it to dry and clog, do I need to do something special to keep my paint in the mixing cup from going bad between coats?

Everyone is worried about the proper technique and the proper mixing, but gloss over or ignore the logistics of the actual paint in the cup or in the gun.