You're welcome, and thank you for your reply, Neecola!
Last night, I added warm water to two heaping tablespoons of aritha and methi (powdered fenugreek, which provides slip). I shook it up well and left it out overnight.
I applied two or three drops of lavender shea oil to my hair last night, mainly to the length.
This morning, I shook the jar of Indian herbs vigorously to make a foam. Before wetting my hair in the shower, I applied most of the resulting foam to my scalp and a little to the length and massaged in gently. Rinsed and repeated the foam wash.
Rinsed.
Applied nettle/rosemary/lavender tea. Let it sit for a few minutes. Rinsed.
Using the foam felt extremely gentle compared to applying a gritty paste. I feel certain that the foam method caused no mechanical damage.
I let my hair dry almost completely, gently finger combing as it dried. The tangles fell out. Final detangling with my Tangle Teezer was easy.
My hair looks clean, smooth and shiny and is very soft.
As lovely as the foam method is, I hope that I will be able to just use the liquid when I receive my soapnut pieces. I suspect that will work fine. It's the mechanical damage from the gritty powder that I want to avoid.
I'm also thinking that it would be nice to brew the soapnuts in my nettle/rosemary/lavender tea. That would save me a step in the shower. If it doesn't affect the soapnuts' sudsing ability, that would be a great solution.
So far, I'm a happy camper!
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