Ok, this has been my experience, so as usual, YMMV...
The carrier does not need a lot of lube to keep it going. Some light lube on the high spots, and then some additional during a shooting session is about it. Spraying such as Dick Metcalf is doing is fine. Some of what he is doing is in my second point.
Where most of the problems I have seen occur is that the bolt itself, which is a piston, does not get enough and then starts to drag instead of slide, slowing down the carrier/bolt combination. What I do when this starts is to squirt some into the bolt via the vent holes, and then cycle the carrier/bolt a few times to distribute it.
While I have seen an overly lubed carrier attract all sorts of stuff, and get gritty, I have not experienced or seen an over lubed bolt. The excess will just blow out the vents, and around the firing pin and out the back (not a lot though).
-Bidah