Ok, so the eco experiment is underway. For those of you who haven’t seen my first blog, I’m testing out a range of washable nappies to find the best one for me and my baby son (don’t worry, I’m not wearing them!).

A couple of readers couldn’t see what was wrong with traditional Terries. The answer is probably nothing but they can put people off going green, as a visit from a friend proved earlier this week.

When I told her I was using washables she told me how brave I was (hardly!). On actually seeing the nappies, she changed her opinion saying she thought they’d be old-fashioned but that actually they didn’t seem much different from disposables.

Anyway Mother-ease One Size is the nappy under the spotlight this week. It’s been recommended by two friends so I was expecting good things.

The nappy is made from cotton terry but is shaped, so no folding required and it does up with poppers, so no pins required. It’s basically a modern day traditional nappy (if that makes sense!) and is simple to use.

The beauty of the design is that it’s a birth to potty nappy: it folds down while the baby is young and can be expanded as the baby grows. So there’s no need to buy different sizes.

They’re easy to wash and are probably middling when it comes to drying. They take most of the day to dry on an airer by a radiator and, if you need to tumble dry, about an hour and a half on a low setting.

To give you an idea of the effort involved, I'd say we're doing roughly three extra washes a week. (These aren't necessarily full loads.)

You need to use covers or wraps (which do come in different sizes) over the top of the nappies, obviously making them a bit more involved than a disposable but it probably only adds about 20 seconds to change time.

I’ve been using the Mother-ease Rikki wrap, which fastens with poppers and the Airflow wrap, which uses Vecro.

The only noticeable difference is that you have to be more careful when washing Velcro but it’s personal preference and there are plenty of cute designs to choose from. (Wraps only need washing if they get dirty; if they’re wet, they can just be wiped with a cloth.)

This system has seen Owen through the night without any leaks or explosive situations; that’s a good ten hours, so pretty impressive. Although, unfortunately, they don’t seem to be able to stop him weeing all over himself at change time!

Clearly the Mother-ease One Size is very absorbent but it does get saturated so that the wetness is right on the skin.

Some say this is a good thing, as it means babies toilet train quicker because they understand that not being in nappies is better. Whether that’s true or not, Owen was certainly happy in them.

However, I prefer the way that some of the micro-fibre nappies draw the wetness away from the skin. Some of these will be reviewed in future blogs. (But it’s also worth making the point that nappies which feel wetter on the skin are made from more natural materials, so are ultimately more green. Any thoughts on this?)

The only other potential drawback is that these can be pretty bulky on newborns.

The supplier at Little Green Earthlets, which has recently opened a branch in Ivinghoe, suggested using their smaller Sandies nappies for the first few weeks.

Sandies are good but, unless you’ve got money to burn, it’s expensive to buy both.

If you can live with your baby having a bit of a big bum, which I certainly can (if you can’t get away with it as a baby, then when can you?), then this isn’t a problem.

It’s worth noting that with most birth to potty nappies and even some of the sized ranges, you may need slightly bigger trousers/ babygrows for your little one.

The final consideration is cost. The nappies retail at about £7.50 and the wraps £8.50. This can vary depending on where you buy them.

You'll need between 20 and 30 nappies, depending on your baby's requirements and how often you want to do the washing, and about three wraps.

Little Green Earthlets also sells a nappy kit for £259, which is more cost effective: it has twenty nappies (probably enough to do a wash every other day) and various other bits including wraps.

It sounds like a lot but it’s less than the long-term cost of disposables. I’d advise you to buy a nappy and a wrap before splashing out the full amount, just to check you’re happy and, believe me, it never hurts to have a spare!

So overall, Mother-ease gets a thumbs up on pretty much all fronts and I’d be more than happy to invest in these for my son. Hurrah for my first green success story!

UPDATE: Following my comments about this nappy leaving the baby's skin wet, Little Green Earthlets have sent me the Mother-ease Dry. It's the same nappy but has a lining sewn in which whips away the wetness and it works a treat.