I like beeswax for soapstone. The best one (that I know of) is Wooden Wonders Beeswax Butcher Block conditioner by artist Anne Curtis. She sells on her website (linked below) and on eBay. Seems expensive but a little goes a long way. It bears repeating: a little of Wooden Wonders Beeswax goes a long way for soapstone counters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wooden Wonders Beeswax conditioner

Here's another beeswax counter conditioner with no mineral oil.

Daddy Vans Beeswax

Or, think outside the box and keep your soapstone counters un-oiled. No more having to clear off counters to condition them, yippee!
Kitchens Forum Thread about Not Oiling Your Soapstone

This post was edited by Sahmmy on Sat, Apr 5, 14 at 19:40

I've had my soapstone counters about 14 months now. During the first 6-8 weeks I oiled it three or four times, then I decided to let it go natural. What a great decision! After all, one of the reasons I picked soapstone was to be maintenance free, and oiling is, well maintenance. Love the way it looks, and couldn't be happier with it's amazing durability.

My soapstone is over 7 years old and sees heavy use. I oiled the first couple of weeks and never again. Mine get conditioned the "real" way..with the food we prepare and eat. You will love your countertops and they will reward you with the patina of your life lived in your kitchen...

{{!gwi}}

Sahmmy, ctycdm, & trailrunner - Thx for the tips & advice! I have instructed our fabricator to bring our soapstone out "naked." I am going to leave it "au natural" and see how it does. I'll try out a few oils/waxes on sample pieces. I'm not one for maintenance, so leaving the soapstone unoiled is appealing. However, the slab I selected is extremely busy with a lot of gray & white in it...almost doesn't look like soapstone. When I put water on the slab, beautiful green & tan sections/veins really pop! We may need to oil every so often to see the colorful markings. But we'll cross that bridge after leaving it naked for awhile.

Getting excited about swapping our Formica for soapstone!

trailrunner - Thanks for sharing your photos. Love your soapstone and its natural patina! I see some lovely green in your soapstone...beautiful!

thank you wags ! I never saw the soapstone before purchase...never even knew that folks "Picked out slabs" ! I was buying architectural salvage for my remodel and they had 2 slabs of Green Mountain soapstone left. I said I wanted them. They were SO cheap and I was getting 2 antique soapstone sinks so I had them send the slabs . After all this time I have seen what others have posted and were I to do it over I would probably go with a different kind of ss so I could have the dramatic veins. But it is what it is. I put hot pots...500 degrees on it all the time and have since it was installed. Nothing phases it. Pie crust makes it look lovely and just living on it has darkened it evenly. You will love your ss. Good Luck and I will look forward to your post. c

I am debating soapstone. Love the look, and love the idea that it is nature's product that I can drop hot pots on without impunity and also requires no maintenance. Trailrunner: a 2 lb bag of yeast? I'm envious, you obviously make some mean baked goods. Me? A couple of ounces is all I buy at a time.....

Sherri it is almost all in a bag in the freezer...sigh. I bought it at a time when I was baking last year for our local farmer's market. I only use my wild yeast sourdough at home for our baking. Unfortunately after I bought the 2# of yeast I stopped baking for the farmer's market so there it sits ! I need to give it to someone that will use it . I do bake several times a week and have made all of our bread since the early 70's. I have posted pics and recipes in the past on GW. If ever you are interested would be glad to offer any help you would like. c

Late to the conversation but have had my soapstone counters for 2plus years. We had hard water and after a year installed a water softener. Now I am left with water spots that I can't seem to remove...any ideas??i

i now know there are different durability grades of soapstone . my soapstone scratches easily which I've decided to embrace and over time blend in but I would have picked a kitchen grade had I known. At this point I love my ss counters and just want the water spots removed.

scartwright:

Buy a $39.00 palm sander with several sandpaper grits and go to it.

We have a hard variety that the fabricator finished at 80 grit. None of the water spots we see are permanent. Generally the rough side of sponge and soap gets them out. Soapstone is impermeable so it doesn't matter how long oil sits. I wipe it right off. It is just a coatng on he surface until it dissapates over time.