I haven't had any bad experiences in real life, but on forums you get complete tosh being spoken regularly. I read a while back someone saying that their friend was using cloth but had stopped because all of her clothes were starting to smell of poo due to washing the nappies in the same machine
.
DH's friend told us we'd last less than a year using cloth and then would get bored and go back to 'normal'. He's kept his mouth shut about nappies in the last while though as DH has become quite an advocate and has all the expectant mammies and daddies in his office considering cloth
I did once have the nurse at the children's hospital tell me that I didn't need to wrap him in a towel (she looked so sincerely sorry for the poor mite
), they'd be quite happy to get me a (disposable) nappy if I'd forgotten to bring one
. Cue a mini show & tell from me with my lovely nappies, they were quite impressed in the end