Do borate products (Supreme, Optimzier, etc.)work as claimed?

[waterbear]

Several companies are selling sodium tetraborate pentahydrate as a pool additive under such names as Proteam's Supreme, Bioguard's Optimizer plus, and others. Several claims have been made for these products when used in a 30-50 ppm concentration such as:
1) more stable pH
2) Algaestatic properties
3) reduced chlorine usage
4) silkier feeling water--less skin and eye irritation
5) clearer, 'sparkling' water

I recently added sodium tetraborate decahydrate (20 mule team borax) to my pool to a 50 ppm concentration and adjusted the pH accordingly (just like is needed with the commercial products) and after three weeks can give some preliminary answers!

1) more stable pH--resounding yes here. I normally need to add acid every three weeks with my SWG because my pH is 8.0....my pH climbed much more slowly and is only at 7.7 after 3 weeks. I am waiting on adding acid to see how long it takes to go higher.

2) Algaestatic properties--unable to determine. Never had algae since the SWG went online and my phosphates are between 2000-3000 ppb

3) reduced chlorine usage--this one might be a yes...it took me by surprise. My swg usually maintains a 4 ppm fc with a setting of 10%. My FC has been running at 5.5 ppm and I just lowered my SWG down to 6% to see where it puts my FC AND my pool had heavier usage during this period because of visiting family (with little kids!)

4) silkier feeling water--less skin and eye irritation--although subjective this one appears to be a yes. My nephew, his wife, and their three kids (3,7 and 9 years old) were visiting for a week and they all commented on how silky (their words) the water felt. The kids said it didn't hurt their eyes like most pools do (they spent whole days in the pool) and my nephew's wife commented on how her hair didn't dry flat like it usually does after swimming in a pool. She told me that she has been in pools with SWGs before and the water was not like this. She asked what I put into the water to make it feel that way.

5) clearer, 'sparkling' water--another subjective one but I would have to say yes. I usually have to vacumn my pool every 3 weeks or a bit more often. I usually get a bit of dirt that collects near the main drain and along one side of the deep end. After 3 weeks the pool floor is still pretty clean so I am going to see how long I can go. Also, I usually have to change out my skimmer socks weekly. I am on week 2 of the same sock now....just had to pull some leaves out of the skimmer. The water does have a 'sparkle' to it. Some of my neighbors have commented on it as well.
The pool does seem to be clearer and 'bluer' looking but, like I said, this is subjective. At night when the lights are on the water also seems to have more 'sparkle' and clarity.

I will continue to monitor and post my test results in this thread
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=4712
for anyone interested in the details.

What have I concluded so far as to whether tetraborate products live up to the claims made for them?
A definite YES for claims 1, 4, and 5!
A possible YES for claim 3. I will be monitoring this one closely!
Can't really tell for claim 4 but this is why borates were used as a pool additive in the first place so I think this one might have some merit based on some research I have done on the internet about borates as a herbacide and algaecide.

BTW, the cost of adding the borates to my 6600 gal pool (and 300 gal spa) was about $35 and that was for 6 boxes of borax (didn't need all 6), 2 gallons of acid, and a jar of borate test strips.