snotty white stuff in my pool

[PoolDoc]

i did power wash my cartridge today and soaked it in clorox, plus shocked the pool.

I'm sorry; that pretty much destroys cartridges. You need a new one. Get your EXACT filter make / model, and I'll try to help you find a Wilbur or Unicel replacement. Pleatco is pretty low quality. (Great marketing program, though!)

Use borax, to raise your pH:

+ We routinely recommend the use of 20 Mule Team borax INSTEAD of soda ash, for several reasons. It's cheaper than pH Plus (soda ash labeled for pools) but more importantly, it does not raise your alkalinity much, and does not combine with calcium to cloud your pool. The way to add is it is to pour it into your skimmer SLOWLY, while the pump is running. (How slowly? Slowly enough that it doesn't make a big pile in the bottom.)

Borax also can help control algae, but you have to add a LOT. It ends up costing around $50 per 10,000 gallons of pool water, for borax and muriatic acid, if you buy your borax at Walmart and your muriatic acid at Lowes. Soda ash is now frequently available at Walmart in the detergent section, at prices MUCH cheaper than the pool prices for the same chemical. If you ALSO need to raise your alkalinity, you can buy that instead. But if your alkalintiy is high enough, and you only need to raise your pH, it's better to use borax:[INDENT]20 Mule Team Borax @ Walmart