Let me preface this by saying that you should always follow the manufacturer's instructions for laundering your diapers. This is especially important because not following those instructions usually voids any type of warranty that the diapers may have. However, these general guidelines are typically those recommended for all cloth diapers, and they have worked well for us.
If your baby is getting solids, you'll definitely need to remove the majority of the waste before you even put your dirty diaper in the wet bag. Do this by dunking or with a diaper sprayer. If you are using pocket diapers (or any type of diaper with an insert), remove the dirty insert from the pocket before putting them in the wet bag.
When you're ready to launder, there are 3 basic steps: 1. cold prewash, 2. hot wash, 3. dry. Easy peasy. Empty your wet bags into your washing machine as it's filling. Toss the wet bag in with your diapers. If your machine does not have a pre-rinse option, that's okay! Ours doesn't either. Simply turn the dial on your washer all the way to "rinse" with the temperature setting on cold. This pre-rinse helps remove any residual waste, as well as helping to prevent stains. When that rinse is done, turn the temperature to hot and do a regular wash.
DO NOT USE REGULAR DETERGENT (EVEN THE GENTLE KINDS!)
Sorry to yell :) You must use a detergent that is specifically designed for cloth diapers. Right now, we use Rock'n Green detergent, which can only be ordered online. It comes in different scents, as well as different formulas for your water type (whether soft or hard water). It smells a-mazing. This chart is also extremely helpful. It rates tons of different detergents on their cloth-diaper friendliness. It also breaks down the cost per load, as well as listing any potentially non-cloth-diaper-friendly ingredients. When you launder your diapers, don't use any other additives (bleach, vinegar, baking soda, fabric softener, fabric sheets, etc.) Just keep it simple, people. Detergent and water. Boom.
How you dry your diapers will depend on what type of cloth diaper you use. Any type of waterproof diaper cover must be line dried. If you use a pocket diaper or AIO, the diaper "shells" must also be hung to dry. However, the inserts can go in the dryer on the tumble cycle, as can prefolds and fitteds. When choosing what brand of diapers you want to use, it's helpful to read about the drying time for the shells. Apparently, some brands take longer to dry than others.
If your diapers have stains even after they're washed and dried, sun them! Lay the diapers outside so that the stains are exposed to direct sunlight for a couple of hours. Ta-da! Like magic!
One last thought... perhaps you've heard of people "stripping" their cloth diapers. Some people do this if they feel that their diapers have a detergent buildup or if they have a faint lingering odor after washing. While you should check with the manufacturer's suggestions on stripping your diapers, I can tell you that bumgenius recommends using one teaspoon (HE machines) to one tablespoon of original Dawn (the blue kind) and up to a 1/2 cup of bleach in a wash cycle with the diapers. No detergent, just those two things. The, wash twice more on hot with no detergent OR Dawn/bleach. If you are still seeing suds on the second hot wash, do a third. Repeat these hot water washes until you don't see any suds. (We've been using our bumgenius diapers for 3 months now and have not had to do this, though I think I will do it soon.)
As always, feel free to ask questions! Also, let me know if there are other cloth diapering topics I should cover!
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