I personally have brazilian soapstone and love it. It is scratched and I never oil it. I like the patina and the scratches look good to me with the veins. I also did brazilian soapstone in a client's and they love it (they keep theirs oiled).

When I first got them, I sanded out scratches, which took some doing- just like wood, started with one grit, then decreased grit until I got the smooth finish and it worked fine (but much better with a sanding block than just a piece of sandpaper).

I did not seal or oil and wet spots are darker until they dry. If you are a patina person, you will love them. If you are a perfection person you will not.

Thanks! I was told it forms cloudy spots over time which looks almost like a film over the soapstone? It is so hard to make a decision! I have never known anyone who had soapstone in their house.

P.S. It is the case with mine that the areas that get the most wet (around the sink faucets) get a bit cloudy (really just a lighter color) after a few months between waxings. But this disappears as soon as I wax.

I have not had the cloudy spot thing nor heard of it before! It may be a cleaning product issue, but it is ph neutral, that's why it was used in science labs- hmmm. Mysterious.

Here are some article and threads...

http://vermontsoapstone.com/discover/care.html

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/does-anyone-have-a-soapstone-countertop-dsvw-vd~87453

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/if-soap-stone-gets-marked-with-water-sp-dsvw-vd~50024

Some stone reps call pietra cardosa soapstone and it is not, it does not have the chemical neutrality and that may be why someone mentioned clouding. Perhaps they have pietra cardosa and it was cleaned with something or sealed or oiled with something it didn't like. What a bummer for them!

Order a sample from Vermont soapstone and mess around with it. Try to scratch it, try to sand it out, oil half, don't oil the other half, try hitting it with a mallet, or anything else you may do-- if your purse has feet, try dragging those across to try and scar it. Then oil the whole thing! See what you think!

Ah, Feeny solved the cloudy mystery! Thanks!

Have you had any problems with water rings? I don't mind patina, but water rings would drive me crazy. Thank you!

No problem at all with water rings. But I can't stress enough that the little tub of soft soapstone wax beneath my sink smoothes out anything. Nothing is permanent on soapstone. So if you left a wet glass on the soapstone for days and days and somehow it created a ring (I'm not convinced it would, but let's just imagine), that ring would disappear the minute you put a dab of wax (or any kind of oil) on it. You don't have to rewax the whole countertop. You can just dab at it selectively if you aren't happy with the way some part of it looks. This gives you complete control over its appearance.

And I really do advise you to follow Shannon's advice and get a sample piece and do your worst with it over a period of weeks. That is exactly what convinced us to get it. We waxed one half, oiled the other half, and left the back side untreated. Then we did every conceivable bad thing to it we could imagine.

I am water ring central, they dry out, but you should not go the totally unoiled/unwaxed route! Feeny makes the wax sound better and better! I'm getting tempted!

I am a control freak, so what I love is that soapstone gives you total control. If you want it to look perfect, you can make it look perfect with little wax touchups. When people come over for dinner, I touch up any spots around the sink that are looking less lustrous than the rest. If, ten or twenty years down the line, you don't like the particular patina it has developed, you can give it a light sanding, wax it, and presto you have a new counter. No need to call anyone in for resealing. So for me this means no worries and total control. For someone else it might mean too much tinkering.

I am joining this thread a little late, but Feeny, would you please tell me which type of soapstone you have? I love the feel and organic look of soapstone, but am afraid of water marks, which other owners have cited. Your abiliity to restore your countertop so easily with wax sounds perfect for me. thanks.

Hi Claire,
I think our soapstone is Brazilian. We put it in almost three years ago now, so I can't remember for certain. It's the dark blue-green tinged soapstone rather than the charcoal gray color, only because my husband fell in love with the color and veining of this particular slab. I thought we were getting the gray with white veining, which I slightly prefer, but now that we have this I love it too.
But I think the water marks issue is more about whether you wax or oil it or not. If you leave it natural, it shows everything (though that leads to an interesting patina of a different kind). If you wax or oil it, then water and all other substances just wipe right off. We've found it to be truly indestructible. The wax we use is called Dorado Soapstone Wax, though there are other brands as well. We bought a little tub of it (size of a small yogurt container), and three years later I'm only half way through it.

Thanks so much. I'm going to look at slabs at a soapstone yard/showroom tomorrow, and I'll look for yours.

Don't worry about it being Brazilian. Just look for a slab with veining patterns you like. It will look REALLY boring before it is oiled, like the difference between a dry gray stone on the beach at low tide and that same stone when it is wet and you can see all its color and detail. So you will probably look at the slab and think no way. But have them show you a piece of oiled or waxed soapstone (or look at the slab while its raining if they keep the slabs outdoors) to get a sense of its color for your kitchen. It is usually very dark (charcoal, blue-green gray, or almost completely black) once oiled or waxed. And definitely get them to give you a little piece to bring home and beat up, plus some oil or wax to try out. It was that step that totally convinced me.

I plan on bringing home samples of several types. I've read so many threads, and some people definitely have ahrder to maintain soapstone than others; as I said before, your description sounds great for me. I will do all sorts of testing before I commit! thanks.