In the old days, Bel Ray sold fork oil that said, "seal-swell" on the label. It turned out thsi was just alcohol, a small amount, in the oil. When added to an old, leaky fork it would tend to soften the seals and often it would stop leaks.
The same idea works with this tool. Either a purchased one or home made. If you dip this tool in the alcohol between wipes, it does an amazing job.
SealSwell additive was not alcohol, it was simple Glycerin. It does swell rubber quite astonishingly, but todays seals, as opposed to the ones back in the 70's, are made from different polymers that are not as affected by it. We used to add a tablespoon to each leaking fork, and do the seal scraper trick using a piece of old film cut like a "J" shape, and got duprisingly double life from those pesky leakers...
Paper or electrical tape works, too.
problem is, nither sticks to the
oily fork leg worth a dam, and both have a tendency to come off on the backside of the seal, and end up causing a teardown to remove them from the fork....bummer