You need to own enough cloth diapering supplies, including cloth wipes, to make a load of laundry or it may very well feel like it is not working efficiently. It takes commitment to make the initial investment in diapering supplies, but just like anything worthwhile, it won't take long to realize that it is definitely worth it. They don't work well in our experience. For us, they slipped out of position and weren't absorbent enough. We do not carry contour diapers because of our experience with them.
Polar fleece is hydrophobic and it is effective.
But it is made of a kind of polyester which caused severe redness and irritation on Drew, our main diaper tester. Of course many babies can successfully use it, but after seeing what it did to our son, we do not feel comfortable offering fleece products. For the same reason, we do not offer any products with microfiber bindings. We don't know. Using fleece on babies' bottoms is very new.