I can certainly see how blowing into the cartridge could have harmed the cartridge in the long run.
But it felt like a gust of wind did help. Maybe it was confirmation bias. After all, if it was a panacea, then it should have worked the first time. I remember blowing into the Atari and Odyssey cartridges a few times before they work. So while rearranging the dust may have helped, it wasn't always a quick fix. In that case, the alcohol solution might have been better after all. Oh well.
Not that matter, since my childhood consoles are all long gone, destroyed in a flood.