So I am going to tell you all about cloth diapers. Or what I know of them in my week or so of experience.
First of all, my overall impression has been great. I am sold. (I have to be sold, because there's no way they'd be taking these back after what my children have done in them...)
I went with the Fuzzibunz brand. I mostly heard the experiences of four different moms, and all of them used different brands. Some of them used more than one brand themselves. When I heard all the things that were good and not quite as good about each brand, the Fuzzibunz were the ones that sounded like they would be the best "fit," so to say, for our family. I liked that they had the snaps as opposed to the Velcro, which sticks to everything in the dryer. I liked that they had a "one-size" that will grow with a baby and even fit a toddler. (Though they are pretty snug on MY toddler.)
I ordered them and they came (free shipping) in 2 business days. I bought 9 one-size and 3 larges. I may end up getting three more larges at some point, because at present I am doing a load every day. The first thing I thought was how soft they are! I imagine they are much more comfortable for a baby's bottom. They are cute and they fit just about as trimly as a disposable with one insert. (You can use two for greater protection, but they get pretty bulky. Baby J can hardly move his legs with two inserts stuffed inside. They have adjusters just like the ones on kids pants nowadays, only these have numbers written next to each hole for the button. There are two sets of adjusters, two at the waist and two at the legs.
The one-sizes (that say they should work for 7-35 pounds) are snug on my 31 pounder. She can get by with them during the day but I'm glad I bought several larges as well, because those work much better when trying to stuff them for nighttime. She hasn't had any leaks at night. She doesn't get leaking during the day either unless I leave them for over 5 hours, and the leaking is only around her legs. I'm getting better about remembering to change her an extra time a day and it's becoming routine. With baby J I'm having more trouble figuring out how to keep his from leaking. I'm sure it's just a matter of finding the right adjustment. He leaks at the legs after just a couple hours, even if he isn't that wet. Nighttime he doesn't usually leak at all, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong during the day.
One thing I have noticed is that it is hard to get these suckers dry. They have to be dried on low and it takes at least an hour before they feel dry, and even then I still think they could be a bit drier. I'm going to try drying and bleaching them in the sun when I rig (or actually have MacGyver rig) me up some sort of clothesline.
So overall, I am very happy with cloth diapers. I haven't had to do anything with messes other than knock as much as I can into the toilet. They go right into the washer for a soak and wash and they come out clean and white again.
So if you're thinking about it and you're not sure, you have my opinion to add to your research. Here's the Fuzzibunz website as well, they have some questions and answers as well and they are very honest about what to expect.
http://www.fuzzibunzstore.com/ (I'm sorry to make you cut and paste, I completely forget how to insert links, or they changed it or something.)
I also said I would post the recipe for homemade laundry detergent. You can get it from the Duggars website, but I found another website that I thought explained the details a little better, and was also scaled down a bit since I don't have 19 children and counting to wash clothes for. Although it seems like it some days...
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/category_s/24.htm
Next on my list: Homemade dishwasher detergent. Details later.
