Quartz is where design is headed,all,of the high end homes I'm our area are changing to quartz,check it out

Love the look of Quartzite, however we're hard on things and can't bare the stains, etching and chips!

quartzite and quartz counters are completely different. quartz is man-made from natural quartz stone and rarely needs maintenance if any, quartzite is a natural stone similar in look to marble and if you get the right kinds requires less upkeep. you may find a quartz counter you love in a dark color. look into caesarstone.

Oh right - mixed up what Brandi was staying...thank you for the clarification! I'll look into caesarstone. I've always been against man-made countertops but they are tempting!

I have a light (crema antartida) leathered granite and we love it. Gets lots of compliments - and upkeep is easy. We do seal it once a year or so to prevent stains. I also have soapstone in my kitchen. We love that too - but it definitely gets a worn in look (which fits are 100+ year old house)....

I had a leathered black pearl granite remnant made into a top for an old coffee table at the same time. I still do no upkeep on that, but it does get rings from glasses.

If I could get soapstone, I personally would do that over granite. Is the upkeep really that much more? Soapstone is gorgeous and timeless and not everyone has it (though I know a lot of people with great granite countertops and their kitchens are stunning).

Soapstone is very easy to maintain - you oil it once or 2x a year at most. You can let it weather without oiling at all and it will go a little lighter but maintain depth and character. Soapstone is extremely durable, non porous and heat resistant - that was the classic countertop material for science labs for decades. If a chemist can control an explosion on it, you can probably set your souffle down on it :) However, there is no white soapstone (light grey, yes; white, no) - you mention white in your comment, so I just want to be clear here. If you're talking about a white island as an accent, you have a few options but it depends on the overall look, and what you use for the main stone. There should be a carefully considered relationship between the cabinetry, main stone and island stone, as well as any other finishes. Quartz (ceaserstone, HanStone, Silestone, etc) is incredibly durable, heat and stain resistant, and very low maintenance. They come polished or honed, and I have used both with little difference between them. Quartzite, marbles and granites are all softer, more porous, and more susceptible to wear and tear. Quartzite is probably the most fragile, as it is comprised of fractured stone and often (in my experience) bonded with epoxy - looks great but stains, discolors and niks too easily for heavy use areas.

We show a number of projects with varying stones. This one features a white quartz for the bulk of the kitchen counters, and a white quartzite for the accent peninsula:

This kitchen features a carrera marble countertop. Carrera is often discouraged as a countertop material, because it does, in fact, scratch and stain. However, these clients have spent a lot of time in Europe, and their response to the warning was "have you ever walked in to an old cafe in Paris and bemoaned the fact that their counters were stained?" No, in fact - the more use and wear, the better the counters look. These owners do not seal their stone, and after 5 years it looks great - there are no large stains or problems. They use their kitchen heavily - both are gourmets and are not very precious about the stone.

Finally, this kitchen features a quartz counter for the main tops, and a leathered granite island. The island stone was very unusual - it has the effect of waves of grass - it's very natural and soft against the crisp stainless/copper/quartz in the rest of the kitchen. The leathered/brushed finish is very attractive, but should be noted for someone that is pristine about their kitchen space - it can accumulate crumbs and does require more attention to keep clean, as would any textured finish.

Thanks for all of your comments! RoomTENdesign, we are actually looking for white(ish) for the island and black (dark) for the perimeter. We have white cabinets on the perimeter and black cabinets on the island. We are in LOVE with the look of soapstone but have read enough comments to scare us away - the chips and especially, the water rings that some soapstones get. I'm not sure if my husband will be okay with the "loved" look of it. That's why we looked into honed and leathered, since it had more of the look of soapstone with less of the "love". However I just asked a fabricator for a quote on Jet Mist Honed granite and she said, I quote "Jet mist honed is a nightmare!!! you must enhance, and re-enhance every few years. PLEASE find something else you like. It is the same price as soap stone with none of the good characteristics."

Sooooo we were back to not knowing anything about anything.

Look into caesarstone...you can get a honed finish without the nightmares :)

http://www.caesarstoneus.com/en/Customer_Service/Pages/FAQ.aspx

I have leather counters , we love them, originally we were going honed but leather takes on a different look and leaves a bit of a sheen on the stone.
If you look for a granite called Arctic White and have a look at the leather finish its beautiful.
This granite does have grays & blacks along with a real white,
Unfortunately I have to use black in my kitchen renovation and I'm saying that because with a leather finish you don't see any fingerprints since it kind of seals the stone when they flame it. Leather finish is quite a bit more money per ft2, In Ontario you can pay up to 10/ft2 extra.
Have a look at St. Gabriel Black which leathers really beautiful. We are doing Cambrian Black honed with an impregnating colour enhancing sealant matt finish. Once the Cambrian is honed it isn't as black as polished finish, but its a very solid black when its sealed.
I think you would like either of these stones, these stones also are extremely dense so you don't really have to do anything to them once you have sealed them, what ever you get make sure you don't seal with an acrylic sealant,

Hope this helps

I am also looking for a white granite or quartzite that I'd like to have honed or leathered and apply an enhancer (or not). All of our cabinets are black-brown Ikea Ramsjo and consist of 2 parallel walls - 1 with and 1 without uppers and an island in the centre will be 8.5' x 4.75'. We decided to go all black cabinets and all white counters... to be different which seems strange to say. I am in love with the photos of River White leathered or honed granite and the whiter quartzite leathered or honed counters. I do not like quartz as I prefer the movement and imperfections of granite, quartzite or marble. Marble is out of the question. Soapstone is my favourite but I think we all black cabinets would be too dark. The ceiling is under 8' and the kitchen is roughly 15' in the middle of a 45' open room with tons of patio doors open to pool and forest so it's bright but all black is too scary. Any suggestion on what white or whitish natural leather, honed or polished stone to use with our black cabinets would be so welcome. Thank you (adding a photo in 5!)

I have customers who have used black leathered countertops and absolutely love the ease of care (and how it hides dust!) i would definitely look into leather or silk finishes. Honed quartz does not have the same ease of care as a polished quartz, so i would also look into that factor with the quartz manufacturers

i have quartz perimeters and honed granite on my cooktop island. if i'm going to do something messy i do it on the quartz instead of the back of the granite island. the quartz is cleaned with the first pass of the sponge. the honed granite, well, no. its good to have both.

I have honed black granite at the cottage installed 10 years ago and have never had an issue. Looks gorgeous!
Just in the midst of a kitchen addition for the city and have chosen a granite for my dark charcoal (BM Iron Mountain) island that I've never seen before: Titanium Leathered. It has a soapstone patina; that lovely chalky charcoal, but periodic veins of a warm amber deepening to copper. I'm doing a patinized copper hood to bring out those tones. It has a lot of life, but in a rustic, very raw manner, and it's incredibly durable. Perimeter cabinetry is white with Stone Grey Caesarstone. Two weeks until installation then I'll have photos posted.

Wow that is gorgeous!

I have honed black granite at the cottage installed 10 years ago and have never had an issue. Looks gorgeous!
Just in the midst of a kitchen addition for the city and have chosen a granite for my dark charcoal (BM Iron Mountain) island that I've never seen before: Titanium Leathered. It has a soapstone patina; that lovely chalky charcoal, but periodic veins of a warm amber deepening to copper. I'm doing a patinized copper hood to bring out those tones. It has a lot of life, but in a rustic, very raw manner, and it's incredibly durable. Perimeter cabinetry is white with Stone Grey Caesarstone. Two weeks until installation then I'll have photos posted.

Our client selected hone granite for this kitchen renovation. They were leaning toward soapstone but when they realized they could get the "look" with honed granite, I think that convinced them to go in that direction. They have been very happy and it is pretty much a maintenance free surface.

Love soapstone...have two nice slabs saved for our kitchen when it's ready!!;)

Poorgirl wondering how you like your honed granite? Where did you buy it from as I'm from southern Ontario and looking at a honed absolute black versus a Cambrian black leather.

I love my countertops , I'm from the stone industry so I knew what I wanted. We would only use Cambrian or Atlantic Black as they are the densest in the blacks , most exterior cladding in black is done in these 2 materials .The rest are interior materials. We honed it because that's what my fabricator had , we would have liked leathered but at $5-8 /ft2 more in cost we went with honed instead . We have leathered at the cottage, beautiful finish.
With the black honed the trick is to put a enhancing impregnating sealant on the stone. We did a Matt finish which is also the worst to do but we didn't want gloss.
If you enhance the material you don't see anything. No water rings, finger prints, which are the 2 big issues with black. No additional work really than any other stone .
I bought a really good cleaner , then let it dry and put 2 coats of a water based enhancer . Since I was doing it my self I used water base, I will have to probably repeat in 2-3 years but I don't care, it's easy to work with.
Originally I put and acrylic impregnator on the material by mistake. Came out streaky and blotchy, almost had a hard attack looking at it.
Called HSK in the U.S. And bought their stripper. I coated the stone and it stripped everything off it. Turned out great.

Hi, poorgirl! I have Absolute Black honed granite and have had problems with keeping the look clean even after wiping it thoroughly. I finally applied AquaMix brand "Enrich-n-Seal" which helps to hide smudge marks, etc. Unfortunately, the Enrich-n-Seal give the granite almost a polished look. The whole reason we got the honed granite was to have that soapstone-like matte look. Could you tell me exactly which product you used that you were happy with?

We needed up buying pearl grey leathered granite and it has a soapstone look. I really like it. We just had it installed and they didn't seal it. Does anyone know if I have to use Granite Gold Sealer or Miracle 511? I had research so much about soapstone (which was my first choice) so I wondering if I can't seal my granite with the same type of wax that would be used to soapstone ? I heard the sealants can change the look of the granite

Karen, Although I am merely a homeowner and I don't have leathered granite (I have honed), I would be hesitant to use a soapstone sealer since these are two different substances with a difference chemical make-up. Do your installers have any recommendations? Also, I wonder if various sealers are available that can give a matte (rather than a glossy) finish. You have probably already considered all of these things, but I hope this helps.

I ended up going with soapstone. Yes I agree soapstone and granite are different stones and require different maintenance regimes. Soapstone does not require sealing as it's inert; non porous. However, if you prefer the darker finish then oil treatments in the beginning required. I believe most granite uses a sealant and your installer may have already had it applied before install? There is colour enhancing sealant or not depending on your desired look. Best to follow up with your installer. Congrats on your new counters! Such a relief to finally make a decision isn't it? Sounds like your ready to enjoy your new kitchen.

This might be some help.

Here are a couple of blog articles that will help with this question. The first one is about the pros and cons of soapstone, the second is about the pros and cons of honed, leathered or polished stone finishes:

http://www.pacificshorestones.com/kitchen-trends-soapstone-countertops/

http://www.pacificshorestones.com/stone-trends-polished-honed-or-leathered-finish/

Hi, does anyone know where I can get soapstone in Costa Rica? And is it correct to call it esteatita?

Well Nanci, i can't tell you where to get it in Costa Rica but i do know that in France it's called "stéatite" so esteatita sounds about right in spanish.

Has anyone had leathered absolute black granite for awhile? Does it need alot of maintenance? Show glass rings, etc? Looking for a durable option to have natural walnut sealed cabinets be the focal point in a mid century ranch, low ceiling open concept kitchen.

We have leathered Uba Tuba granite in most of our kitchen, with a section of our island honed as a perfectly flat surface for my baking area. We love it. The leathered is extremely easy to care for and looks nice. It is very forgiving and does a good job of hiding little water marks where you drip water and miscellaneous crumbs, so we don't feel like we always have to wipe up and polish it to make the kitchen look clean. The honed portion shows a but more of those little signs of daily use, but not as bad as a polished granite. We have no stains or permanent marks of any kind, but we have sealed it once a year so I'm sure that helped.

Balleysr, thank you! Great to hear you love your leathered granite. Once done, I don't want have be a counter czar, worrying about keeping it up. Want to have it look ice and enjoy it!

We will be building this summer. The kitchen will have white uppers and oak peppercorn stained lowwers. Iam looking at soapstone for the 8x4 island because i just love the look and feel of it, and want a granite in white for the perimeter. Any ideas for an almost solid white granite that would compliment the soapstone. Oh we will also have a white apron sink and backsplash.

Honed black granite requires no upkeep and i am so happy with it!

everyone tried to talk me into quartz. I did not budge and I'm glad...it's way too modern for me. If you can afford the soapstone I hope you did it...we are getting nero mist...or nocturnal mist leathered.

Soapstone is great but requires a lot of maintenance. Have you considered quartzite, Quartz or porcelain slabs? This is what I'm typically recommending lately. There are so many choices! Good luck to you, I hope everything works out and you get the kitchen of your dreams!

Three years later and still love my soapstone. I don't do any special upkeep at all. No special care, and still looks as good as the day it was installed.

Gray and Walter, Ltd., what is the "a lot of maintenance" you are referring to? I had soapstone for YEARS and it is one of the most maintenance free counters ever.

From: https://geology.com/rocks/soapstone.shtml

"Soapstone is often used as an alternative natural stone countertop instead of granite or marble. In laboratories it is unaffected by acids and alkalis. In kitchens it is not stained or altered by tomatoes, wine, vinegar, grape juice, and other common food items. Soapstone is unaffected by heat. Hot pots can be placed directly on it without fear of melting, burning, or other damage.

Soapstone is a soft rock, and it is easily scratched in countertop use. However, a gentle sanding and treatment with mineral oil will easily remove shallow scratches. Soapstone is not suitable for use as a workbench top where it will receive rough treatment and where sharp or abrasive objects will be placed upon it."

I love soapstone, but I cannot afford it....and they have different hardness from 2-4.5 so if you don't want the scratches (although I personally would love that) you can get the harder.

The softer soapstone is commonly used for sculpting and other artistic endeavors while architectural grade is harder: https://www.soapstones.com/2011/02/10/about-soapstone-hardness/

I had Daltile Broadway Black (leathered) put on an island. It is the perfect color for the kitchen - very thin white veining and black/gray enough to coordinate with the Calacatta Lazza (MSI) on the U shaped surround and cabinets which are white and dark gray with a hint of brown. Once the product was installed, it took on a stained look. Areas that look like the finish is coming off. I can't seem to find another quartz that has the same look. Silestone Suede appears blue in my kitchen. Any suggestions? Fabricator is willing to do anything to make me happy - even try the daltile again. Could it just be a problem with my slab?

I was told quartz is man made from quartzite. Neither Quartz or quartzite like acid and etches with things such as vinegar or lemon. Quartz is also not heat resistant and things such as crock pots with low clearance will crack the resin and glue which hold it together.

Sheila,,,this is an old post. and quartz is not bothered by acidic properties. quartzite doesn't always etch. depends on the amount of calcite in that particular slab (calcite is marble and will etch) quartzite is actually stronger than granite. It just depends what type of quartzite you pick. not all etch or stain.