Washing cloth diapers

Wanted to try cloth diapers due to cost, but washing them seems complicated. So my questions are for the moms that use cloth diapers.
1) how did you wash the new diapers compare to used ones, do you have to wash the new diapers twice before the first use?
2) what kind of detergent do you use for cloth diapers?
3) how many cloth diapers do you use per day and how often do you wash them?
4) Is it really cost effective, if I'm doing laundry every other day for cloth diapers?
If you have any tips regarding cloth diapering, I appreciate it. Thanks Glow ladies.