I have used many , if not all of the above. Foam, plastic bags, paper towels (smoking and non-smoking). My personal experience was to find an applicator that made it easy for me to apply coats without ridges so I can start with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper. I eventually found a decent, but not perfect balance of glue brand, vsicosity, number of coats, volume of CA, applicator, accelerator, and RPMs that work well for me. And that was only after 100s of attempts.
I use any brand of paper towels including the paper that comes out of the paper towel dispensing machings.
Almost any brand of CA, but I happen to use Mercury's thin flex (2 coats), and medium
flex (about 8 coats) now.
I prefer non-aerosol accelerator and wait about 1 to 2 minutes between coats.
I have also used EZ Bond, BSI, Stickfast, and about a half-dozen others. All worked fine and have stood the test of time.
I focus more on the application of even, ridge-free, and complete coats.
Trust me, I am no expert, and there are myriad ways to approach this. When folks used to suggest that I find a way that works for me, I used to get frustrated by that response. Now, I understand why.
I also used the BLO and CA mixture and found that to work fine with less sanding (hardly any). I just don't want to impart the slightly amber hue to the pen/pencil.
Lastly, this is not a recommendation, nor do I make any claims about safety.
I hope this helps - or at least provides you with a way NOT to do it.
Happy finishing!