nappies come off DD's butt, and unless they are dirty, they go in the bucket. when it comes to washing time, we disassemble them (i try to do it as i go, but DH doesn't, so we usually have to pull them apart at wash time) - throw them in the machine, put in a small amount of powder, and set it going. we have a nappy cycle that does it all for us, so honestly, i don't know exactly what the cycle does - should probably look lol
dirty nappies get rinsed and we usually wash straight after. she is, at the moment, only going every 8 days, so we just create a load when she's been so we end up with no stains

all our nappies get dried on an airer - any that seem mildly discolored get put in the sunniest spot (we dry inside until recently - so the discolored ones go near the window)

you'll probably find you have to change the nappies more regularly than you do with disposables as there are no crystals to store the moisture!

ummm, don't use bum creams like sudocreme - they will reduce the absorbancy by creating a barrier on the material. if you check out the cloth nappy threads there will be mention of the ones that are ok to use (moo goo is the one i use, but tehre are others)
don't use fabric softner

most of all - enjoy the fluffy goodness!