Hi Carter, and welcome to the forum!!

You're right--baking soda raises alk, bleach raises chlorine, and Borax raises pH. Soda Ash raises both alk and pH at the same time. Both soda ash (aka Arm and Hammer washing soda) and borax can be found in the laundry aisle at WalMart, Target, or any other grocery store.

You can search the forums now, just use the google link in my sig. You will have to log out to read your results until your membership is upgraded, but that' s a temporary inconvenience.