It only makes sense that if you cut away half of the diaper, you will have a diaper that's only half as absorbent. Velcro tends to stick to itself and everything else in the washer and dryer if you do not take the extra few minutes to close the tabs. It just takes a few minutes of prevention to avoid a hassle. Velcro will scratch your baby's tummy if it's not placed perfectly. I don't want any new parent to spend money on Velcro covers without knowing that there is extra care in laundering that needs to be taken.
Natural covers are usually much more tedious to maintain.
You can ruin expensive wool covers by washing them with your diapers, rendering them completely useless. Wool can make a nice cover, if you don't expect it to be other than it is. In order to have success with a wool cover it is important to have a lot of absorbency. The diaper under the cover must be able to absorb just about everything the baby will put out for however long you go between changes. I also found that the thicker the wool in a cover, the better the wetness protection.