+ Burn Out 35 is lithium hypochlorite -- an overpriced and under-performing alternative to bleach. Use bleach.

+ Optimizer is just borax. It's a form of borax that is slightly higher in borates than 20 Mule Team borax, from Walmart, but it's MUCH more expensive. If you add enough borax to read a 50+ ppm level of borates, it does inhibit algae somewhat, and it does tend to improve the water's visual quality. Optimizer Plus is an even more expensive version, that mixes borax with boric acid, so it doesn't raise pH much.

+ However, by FAR the cheapest way to gain a 50+ ppm borate level is with 20 Mule Team borax plus muriatic acid from Lowes, Ace or Home Depot. And, once the borate ions in the water, they won't tell your friends and neighbors that they came out of a paper box from Walmart, instead of an expensive plastic container, with nice graphics, from BioGuard. So, if you want the fancy label, keep the Optimizer. If you just want the borates and the effects they have . . . visit Walmart.

+ In order to escape the pool store marketing machine, you have to learn to test your OWN water. Their entire testing was developed, and is designed to coerce you into buying more chemicals, most of which you don't even need. (Added calcium much? You never NEED to add it to a vinyl pool!) Read the test kit info page linked in my signature.