I hate high polish counters in my kitchen. I have polished granite on my hearths and powder room sink. They're lovely. They're dark, but sparkly, and don't smudge or streak, but they also don't get nearly as much handling. One thing about the reflections in the polished surface is that it shows things like the size and shape of the bulbs of the undercabinet lighting.

I have some serpentine sinktops, also, that are lightly polished--pretty much like honed. They are more "natural" and have divots and veins that are noticeable to the fingers. I'm not sure I'd want them in the kitchen, though things like toothpaste come off easily, but a honed granite wouldn't have as many pits. The way they usually do the granite, from what I understand, is cut with resin which keeps the little cut crystals in place. Then they polish it, removing a lot of the resin, but leaving some. When they hone it, they take this smooth surface and remove the remaining resin and expose the natural stone. Some stones are naturally very tight and smooth. Some will have pits where the loose crystals were.

As to cleaning, yes, a texture is going to take more, but the question is realy how much more. You can pretty much wipe the polished surface with the side of your hand (yuck). With a textured surface you might need to use a cloth or sponge (i.e., something with a little tooth). I wouldn't suggest "antiqued" for the kitchen. That's way too much texture and wouldn't be pleasant to the touch, anyway. I've done a lot of cleaning tests on leathered soapstone (for my island--that's the way it came), and all the little grooves, etc., that are cut into the surface, don't grab gunk. They clean with a sponge or paper towel just fine. Some granites are more porous than others, so some will be more grabby when honed, but this is the stone, not the texture. One thing that a small layer of resin gives you is a sleek surface like "quartz" has.

I have a leathered "antique black" in the power room which I love as you see each piece of crystal. It feels smooth in the sense there are no pits, but has a soft texture, "leather", much more than honed. It wipes clean and shows no fingerprints. Note: it is not pure black like absolute.

In the kitchen I have honed calacatta on the island. Smooth, soft, buttery feeling of marble as you slide your hand across. It has no stains, but many etch marks, and sadly a small chip out of the edge which everyone in the family denies creating.

Around the perimeter is seafoam granite with a riverwash finish. Very natural with no shine and lots of texture, pits, and fissures. I use a cutting board as I'm not sure how I would really sanitize the pits etc. I love it as it looks and feels so natural. This finish is on the far end of the spectrum with honed on one end, leathered in the middle, and riverwash at the other end. I really don't care for the highly polished granites, but that is just a matter of taste.

I have polished cesarstone in the kids bathrooms. It is light, bright and easy to clean. While it is glossy, it doesn't look shiny like many polished kitchen granites.

Of all the finishes in the house, I would say the riverwash would be the most likely to harbor bacteria should I lay a piece of raw meat on it. However, I don't ever do that; I always use a cutting board. Every surface "looks" clean after wiping down, none show fingerprints, and I feel fairly confident that washing and drying the surfaces with clean cloths is adequate.

Wow!! After writing all this, I'm not sure I even answered your question.

The "antiqued" finish I've seen sounds like it's more textured than Lucy's riverwash, but along the same lines. It's totally unsuitable to kitchens and not particularly nice to touch. The word may mean different things in different places, even from yard to yard, however. (And should be carefully separated from the word "antique" in the name.) Your best bet is to go look at and feel the slabs.

Lucy's tour is great! I agree that leathered granite feels wonderful.

I don't know enough to be sure, but I'd guess that the "more porous" if textured remark is due to the removal of all of the resin with the polished surface. It's still true that some granites need more sealing than others, and the yards don't always know which are which.

Most yards (at least, near me) will give you a corner off a slab you're considering, or, if not, a cut piece or tile of the same kind of stone. Take it home. Try staining it with fats, acids, water, oil, wine, mustard, etc. Let things set for a night or even two. Try cleaning. That's the best way to know what's what. If you love it but it fails, try sealing it and do it again.

Have you looked at soapstone? Do a search and you'll find a lot of info about it here--better info than anywhere else, really. It doesn't have the color choice (grey (when oiled looks black), blueish, or green), but it repels water, doesn't stain, and doesn't crack under heat, and no polish. You just have to find a properly hard piece (Soapstone can be carving style which is very easy to scratch and cut, or can be as hard as marble, and only scratch lightly. The name of the stone isn't always an indicator--just do your experiments with the slab you're looing at (in a corner)).

Lucy, Could you direct me to pictures of your seafoam green granite on your perimeter cabinets? I looked at a slab of satin seafoam green - although it sounds more like your description with textures, pits and fissures. I would love to see what it looks like installed.

Thanks!
Gwen

I don't have a clue how to post a picture. Not only that, I think it is very difficult to represent the texture in a picture. I've seen polished seafoam, satin seafoam, and the river wash. The river wash, while clearly the same stone, looks nothing like the other two. Somehow the textured surface allows the stone to seem more natural, as if standing in the quarry. I showed my husband the polished stone and he was surprised at the difference. The riverwash was not at all the granite showrooms I visited. I picked my slabs and had the template placed to avoid the infrequent orangy streaks and emphasized the deeper purple/black tones. I get a lot of comments on it as it is so different. Lots of people ask me why I didn't have it polished (g).

I just went and inspected my seafoam. It doesn't have the variation in texture like the leathered black granite that I have, yet it isn't exactly like a honed slab. It does have some pits and fissures yet nothing overwhelming or so open you would be concerned about it chipping or cracking. I don't know how to describe it other than natural. The color, while green, is very, very natural and appears more "stone" like than green. there is a lot of black, grey, and purple/black that offsets the green, yet it doesn't seem dark. Polished, the seafoam that I have seen, looks green. I have cherry cabinets and lots of windows plus the marble in the center. The back splash is "paper bag" colored glass subway sized tiles that go to the ceiling. Depending on the light the tiles look, neutral, light grey green, or slightly taupe.

Well I finally picked my granite yesterday. It is Black Pearl with an antique finish.

I of course, do not have it installed yet. But here is what I can tell you from thinking about this, writing about this, and looking for months!

What one place calls "leathered", another place calls "antiqued" or "riverwashed." Ultimately you need to feel the slab/stone you want to pick. For example, when we found the Black Pearl granite - there was only 1 left of the first lot. And that was a significant problem. 1.) Because of the difference of color; 2.)The antique finish from one lot to the other varied greatly.

The first lot (the one we wanted) is extremely smooth to touch. Really no bumps - you could easily write on it with paper and not be able to tell the finish. The second lot (the one we did not want) was extremely bumpy. But both were called, "antique."

We lucked out and found a remnant at our fabricator's that will finish our job and is of the same lot. Not sure how I got so lucky....

In any event, I would upload a picture, but it is true that is really is hard to tell what it looks like from a picture.

I am very hopeful that this granite will not show anything. It certainly did not seem to show any fingerprints, water, etc. (my props from that I brought). Okay, I suppose my fingers were the easiest prop to bring - ha, ha. However, I did notice when testing out the different "leathered", "antiqued" blacks at this distributor that some showed everything easily and some did not. We immediately took any stone off our list that showed my husbands hand print. I have a dog and kids and I don't need to worry about finger prints showing! I would die if I had to work that hard to keep it looking decent.

So I'm not sure if this is helpful to you. But I love what we chose. And I promise to post my picture once they are installed (about a month from now) and tell you what it is like living with.

Good luck in gathering more info. and finding your stone!

Lucy,

thanks for your very descriptive comments. It really sounds lovely!