Yes
you can seal your floats with dope, you could carry a small tin of clear grease with you - just smear it on the amount of bristle you want to show.
I don't see why you should have to piss about like that though, don't buy cheap pole floats, especialy the ones in bargain trays that have been knocked about.
recently I've been using the floats made by gerrys in nottingham, the seal and finish is spot on so they take on no water, my preston floats have been fairly reliable too.
I dont think pole floats in general are as good a quality as they used to be though, I've got some ignesti and milo floats that are the best part of 20 years old and they stil look as good as any in my box.