Starting Cloth Diapers--Some Help For Some Friends!

I've had several friends ask over the past six months about cloth diapering and I always feel like I'm too overwhelming when I'm trying to "quickly" give them information.  I guess there are a LOT of things I didn't know starting out, so I feel like every bit of info is important to share! 
I wanted to take a stab at creating a few helpful hints for starting out with cloth, so maybe friends can reference this and use it as a tool to start their own research!
1.  Stash
The first thing you need are... cloth diapers!  You guessed it!  There are LOTS of different brands. Kelly's Closet (an online diaper store that features really handy coupons for free diapers a lot of the time, and free shipping on orders overs $49) is my favorite place to go look at the different styles and brands of diapers.  Instead of explaining all the types, I'll just tell you what I use. 
I use a type of diaper called a pocket diaper.  It is your basic waterproof shell with a microfiber/fleece inside.  It looks like a diaper.  The pocket feature is between the two layers where you put your insert for absorbing the tinkles.  I LIKE this style because it's customizable.  I know I heard that a lot and never understood, but this is what I've learned.  Claire now sleeps for 12 hours.  In one diaper.  It WILL sometimes leak.  So I bought special hemp doublers to help absorb even more and we now have very dry nights.  I used "newborn" inserts (sometimes called a doubler, too, usually comes with your pocket diaper as well as a regular insert) when she first started in cloth at three weeks old.  The two brands I think are best are BumGenius 4.0 (snaps or velcro(hook and loop)) and Fuzzibunz (snaps only).  I get the kind that are ONE SIZES, which mean just that.  They have adjustable features to make them tiny or large depending on baby side.  She's wearing the same diapers she wore at three weeks now at six months.  Just resized.  Very simple. 

My stash beginnings.  I did the buy five get one free BGs, and I got a two pack of FBs with a free diaper from Kelly's Closet.  The free diaper is a different brand, Happy Heinys (purple, top corner), it was free, but hey, it works just fine and it is really pretty!

2.  How Many?
Count how many diapers you use in a day.  Times that by 2.  That's what you'd need theoretically if you wanted to do laundry every other day for the diapers.  WE have close to 40 diapers (not all of them are 'in rotation').  We wash diapers on the weekend and on Wednesdays.  Just two loads of laundry a week, so no hassle there.  Great ways to build fast are to buy used.  You heard me.  Used.  That's how we got so many.  Sometimes the store in STL, Cotton Babies (another good place to order online from--free shipping!), has this big one dollar used sale.  Sign up for their mailing list so you can find out when they'll have the next one.  It's been almost a year since the last sale.  You get the cover (inserts, in this case, are extra) for just $1.  We bought 26 this way, plus 25 inserts (I cleared them out) for another dollar apiece.  Watch for good sales--buy five get one free.  Use coupons.

This is a BG 3.0 (same as 4.0 really) with hook and loop in pink.  This is Claire at 5/6 weeks, remember we had a lot of weight trouble in the beginning so she's probably not even 8 lbs in this picture.  They fit just fine!

3.  I Have to Wash Them?
Yup.  We have a diaper sprayer.  We also have a diaper bin (that amazingly doesn't smell).  And wet bags for traveling and day care (they don't leak and don't stink).  We use Country Save detergent instead of the fancy brands they have just for cloth diapers.  It was super cheap to buy on Amazon and we use it for all of our clothes.  We also (disclaimer) have soft water, so if you don't, keep in mind your washing might need extra help.  I also have some Rockin' Green and I 'rock a soak' every month or so (I'm doing that tonight, in fact).  Right now since we're adding new foods I have been doing mostly two washes at a time.  I spray out poopies as they happen, then put the diapers in the wash with this cycling--soak, hot (no soap); prewash, hot (no soap), regular wash hot w/about 1/2 scoop Country Save, then double rinse.  If I repeat I do the same cycle, but all cold. 
Drying is easy.  We separate the inserts from the covers.  The covers (since they're designed to stay dry) are nearly dry out of the wash.  We put them on a drying rack and if it's sunny, we'll put them outside.  Sunning diapers helps with stains (sometimes you get stains, you didn't do anything wrong, they're clean, they'll come out).  Then we dry the inserts in the dryer.  Usually just takes one round, depending on humidity in our basement. 

This is a BG 4.0 with snaps.  It's a sweet cream color (not white).  I'm not the biggest fan of BG's snaps, but they're good and much harder to wiggle out of, in case you get a wiggler!

So that's really it.  Trust me, if I could figure this out, anyone could.  The hard thing is deciding on what style you want and setting up your washing routine.  I went with a lot of BumGenius with velcro (called hook and loop) because those look just like really pretty disposable diapers.  Grandmas, Grandpas, Daddys, Daycare--everyone navigates these diapers just fine.  Now, I have snaps, too, which are usually the other brand and I love their colors.  But I'm usually the only one who knows how to put them on.  No biggie, I'm also the one who likes the pretty colors anyway, so when I diap-ey change, I grab those.  :)

One of my favorite Fuzzibunz--I love the bright colors!

There are other ins and out... what to do with diaper rash, what if you want a newborn stash, what if x,y,z happens because of washing or build up.  We know some of that stuff, too, but that doesn't seem nearly as important to discuss when you're just getting started.  Good luck!  And I'm always available for questions or to show off my diapers.  Because you KNOW I love them!