I loved mine so much I am getting it again in my new house.

no - mine is two years old - I love it

sonicstef, I'm wondering the same thing about soapstone. What about the scratches/mares it can get. What do they look like? Is that the only downside?

I've only seen or heard of one person who didn't like their soapstone and that was because it wasn't staying dark. Chances are they were using a harsh cleaner or chemical that stripped any oil off the surface and was delaying it's permanent darkening.

It does scratch but I was quite impressed with the way they blend in. I had a cleaning lady drag a platter across my countertops and it left horrible scratches. I just oiled them up and to until the day I moved out of that house I could not tell where it happened. The scratches really do blend in. The one thing I really love about soapstone is that if it really got that bad I could just sand them down and oil them up and they would be as good as the day they were installed. The just don't get that bad.

Good luck with your choice. We had ours for 2 years before we had to move and I still miss them.

No regrets - love it, love it, love it. Would have regretted doing granite (afer knowing the soapstone!)

Love it...no regrets at all...and we have had it for two years this past August...we would absolutely do it again.

My soapstone is one that doesn't scratch. It also reached "darkness" in 6 months w/o oil treatments.
I'm really happy with it. It is from the Alberene quarry in Virginia, variety is "Church Hill". It is dark green with lighter inclusions and almost no veining. By next summer it'll be solid black.
Casey

Yes-
I will be the one person to admit to it. And I'm sure I'll take a lot of backlash for it. I said this in another post a few months ago, and boy did I get a response. I love the veining, and the feel- but I really hate the maintenance. I love them to be dark, but they don't stay that way, they keep lightening, back up, even with the bee's oil. My kids are destroying it- the surface scratches I can live with- but the deep gauges are driving me nuts. I admit I do have a softer variety (Santa Rita) probably should have gotten something harder, but the veining is the look I was drawn to, and when we picked out our slabs- they didn't have too many other varieties. If I did it all over again, I would have probably just used SS on the perimeter of my kitchen and a different material for the island.

Polly, I'm sorry to hear that about your choice. But it's good to know and you should not feel bad about posting your views nor should anyone challenge them. I don't remember your post but I apologize in case I said anything that would make you feel bad about posting.

To the OP, One year with my ss counters and no regrets here. I have GM Original and it's never lightened up after the initial oiling. I might rub them down once a month with the beeswax mix but I've been known to go longer. : ) One of the reasons I love my ss is that it's so low maintenance. Then again, it's just DH and myself most of the time.

Polly, thanks for the alternate view. I really appreciate it, as I keep gravitating to soapstone, but my GC keeps trying to steer me toward quartz (he really likes the DuPont Zodiaq). Maybe if I do go the soapstone route, I'll limit it to the perimeters and use something that won't gouge on the island since I'm planning seating for my kids.

Sweeby I like my house clean and my hair, let's say is not in it's natural state. However I do prefer and have a few antique oriental rugs and I like my jeans worn in. What do you think am I a stoner or not? I need to know quickly before the fabricator starts cutting (Monday)! ;- )

Thanks for all the responses. I was nervous mostly about people sharing stories about the countertop is no longer functional after a huge ding or piece falling off. Or that the oiling becomes too much of a chore after a while.

Polly - you shouldn't feel bad about expressing your opinion. I appreciate your comments. I think Im getting a Santa Rita variety too (Black Venata) but I don't have children so Im thinking our wear will be quite different. That said, I like the patina of old marble so I think the occasional scratch will only add character.

I do like my silver polished but I like the knicks in old silver :)

They'll stone you when you're trying to be so good. They'll you just like they said they would.

I guess **not** everybody must get stoned. :)

Thanks for all the positive responses in response to my opinion on soapstone. Just for the record, I color my gray hair, but I like my jeans very worn in! My only major regret in my kitchen design was that I only found this website after everything was ordered and the kitchen was mostly finished. I probably still would have gotten soapstone though, because if I asked on here, the passionate stoners on here would have swayed me in getting it. I admit, I had some doubts when a coworker told me how soft it was and she said it "chips" easily. I did a little research on the internet and visited a friend who had it in her kitchen, and fell in love with the beautiful veins. DH was 100% against granite- he wanted marble- I thought SS would be a great compromise- and it would fit well with our 100yr old house. Again, I think I should have done more research, I'm still astonished when I read this forum and look at how much people agonize over decisions- maybe I should have done a little more of that with the big purchases- but hey, you live, you learn.

So did you get soapstone? How is it?

This thread is old but it was my exact question and responses I needed. I am leaning leaning toward soapstone around the the perimeter and doing a matte corian or cambria on the island to avoid the abuse from 3 kids that are currently 5 and under.

I love the look when it is clean and polished, but I HATE my soapstone... never again for me. It dings, chips and scratches and takes a lot of upkeep IMO.

Polished? Soapstone?

Indeed, soapstone is not for you.

Polished = waxed. I personally hate the worn look, it is not for me... but it's what I have.

I absolutely hate it $4000 mistake. Mine is Julia. So hard the oils waxes etc flash off. We have sanded it to every grit imaginable. I am looking for granite as we speak.

I just moved into a new home, sooooooooo happy not to have the soapstone.

Tinker_2006 - Congrats on the new home! Have we seen your new kitchen? Pictures please!