As a chemical-using science person for a living type dude, doctoring cards with a "secret recipe" is a big deal, VERY especially after seeing that interview and seeing he has very little idea how to approach making his "secret recipe" rather than trial and error.
I suspect, though I say this with no tips or close knowledge, that propylene glycol may be part of the recipe. It helps things like cardboard (for instance) take up water deeper into and between cells and hold onto it better. It also won't ruin the "plastic" as he calls the card gloss.
It's also quite sticky and doesn't tend to precipitate out of whatever it's applied to, meaning when the water and other chemicals are gone, a residue hangs around that could make the situation worse over time.
You can share "active ingredients" without giving ratios.
But let's be real. Most people using stuff like this are doing it for the quick flip and that's someone else's problem 5-10-20+ years from now.
This is just an example of an unintended consequence of using a chemical. I'm slightly alarmed that he talked about his discovery process as a "throwing things at the problem" process rather than approaching it with the properties of the chemical(s) being used.
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