In order to not waste money while trying different diapers I bought, "nearly new," "seconds" (diapers with slight manufacturing cosmetic imperfections), diapers from China (about 6 dollars versus 18 for american made), and I clearance hunt. If you hate them you can sell them for very close to what you paid for them, and even resell them when your baby potty trains (or re-use them on a second kid). Basically there is no perfect diaper just one that fits your budget and child, it takes some trial and error but its worth it.
The Cloth Diaper Accessories: (all the links work:)
Diaper Sprayer (so you never have to put your hand in a toilet to get off poop)- $23 With free two day shipping, it being already assembled and coming with an awesome instruction guide this is way better than buying a $50 diaper sprayer off amazon, or spending 25 bucks to make you own.
Storing Dirty Diapers- I spray my dirty diapers and then toss them in a trashcan that has a washable pail liner (optional), when wash day comes I dump the trashcan and the pail liner itself and they all get washed together, so I never touch a dirty diaper after the fact. Best of all it is also antibacterial. My pail never smells, not so when it was disposables. (I no longer use one as I found it got water inside of it in the wash cycle and was hard to get dry). I found that use a closed pail system gave me more smell issues then keeping an open trash can. Now I don't need any air freshener at all.
Wetbag- I use them on quick trips, this bag is water proof and has one pocket to store clean cloth diapers and one pocket for dirty ones. I keep wipes in it to and the whole thing is all I need to carry with me for a quick pop into the grocery store. This lady makes super cute wetbags. They are also a good price at 10 dollars and she is awesome to work with.
Laundry Detergent- The only detergents you cannot use on cloth diaper are those with synthetic softeners built in. So if that bottle says "Touch of Downey" then back away and grab a different kind. Tide Ultra Powder (use the HE version if that is your machine type) is the most recommended by many cloth diaper companies and is my detergent of choice, I use the appropriate amount for whatever size load. A good rule is line 1 for 12 or less diapers, line 2 for 13-25 and for more than that go to Line 3 or more. As for the water level you want the diapers covered but not swimming. Think diaper stew not soup.
