Washing covers depends on the material. For wool covers, they must always be handwashed and line dried. For laminated polyester covers, they can be washed in warm water, gentle setting, with the baby's clothes. It is not recommended that they be washed with the diapers. I prefer to hang dry the covers although most will allow for 20 minutes in the dryer at a low setting. Generally, I just handwash my covers daily and let them dry overnight with ivory detergent (this is one of the few dishwashing soaps that are considered a detergent and not a soap. Using soap will undermine the covers waterproofing ability).
Cloth diaper covers are said to be cheaper and more environmental friendly. They are also easier to use compared to disposable diapers. There are different types of clothes that suit different types of babies.
The cloth diaper itself is throw away and the diaper covering itself can we wiped off with a clean moist towel.
Use old cloths or cloth diapers or nappies wash it and take it back
Instead of using a disposable diaper like what most people use nowadays, you use a cloth diaper, which you wash and reuse. They're a lot better for your baby than a disposable diaper is actually. And they're a LOT cheaper.
The manufacturer that was the first to produce cloth diaper packages was Cotton Babies. The diapers produced by this company were made from flexible and easy to wash fabric and were less polluting to the environment that disposable diapers.
The diaper covers are usually put over the diaper. The purpose of diaper covers is to provide water protection between the diaper and any other material that would come in contact with the diaper.
Caring for diapers stored in a dry pail - first run a cold rinse cycle that is very short only about 10 minutes to rinse off any soil left on the cloth diaper and to keep any stains from setting. Run a full hot wash with less than the recommended amount of detergent & then add an extra cold rinse cycle to ensure all detergetn is out of the diapers. Any irritation to baby's bum is typically due to detergent left in the diaper.
If it is disposable no, even if it has not been use for its intended purpose. As sweat can cause skin problems. If it is cloth then yes after you wash it,
Cloth
Velcro and diaper cover-ups would be some popular cloth diaper accessories. Velcro helps to hold the diapers together (used now-a-days instead of diaper pins).
The absolute essentials when you choose to use cloth diapering is a diaper pail, cloth wipes and a wipe warmer. When using a diaper pail use Eco friendly liners that are washable, The cloth wipes are washable and would makes sense to throw in the diaper pail with the diaper, and lastly the cloth wipe warmer keeps the wipes moist, and warm for your baby's bottom.
A cloth diaper package that one may give as a gift to a new mother is the Infant PreFold Package available at the Cloth Diaper website. This package costs approximately $120.