Hi holly, If you are planning to breastfeed your baby, cloth is fantastic!! Formula fed babies, it doesn’t work so well. I washed my diapers (I have used cloth on 3 out of 5) I used Gerber brand diapers and had two dozen and 7 covers. The velcro brand covers were really nice because pins weren’t necessery. I All free laundry soap, but any unscented will work. Don’t buy the really expensive baby soap, unless you know that the others aren’t working. Misty