I used a diaper service before adequate disposables came along. I was their last adult diaper customer. If you wear cloth diapers, and you can get a diaper service, do it.
A commercial diaper service uses much hotter water (usually boiling) than you can get in a residential washer. Not only will the diapers be more sanitary, there will be much less residual soap in the diaper.
The service supplied the diapers, plastic pants and a pail. I supplied the pins. The diapers were large square birdseye flats.
The drawback was that I had a pail of wet diapers sitting around for a week. The pail had a good seal, so it smell when it was closed. But when I opened it to drop in a wet diaper, it could be overwhelming. Of course, I would have had the same problem if I washed the diapers myself, unless I did them every day.