I have a spray bottle of water with a few drops of dish soap that I use for my marble...

Usually just water and maybe a bit of vinegar on my Soapstone and butcher block, sometimes just a tad of dish soap for a stubborn spot.
I use these things called spaghetti scrubs, made with peach pits for the abrasive...

Here is a link that might be useful: spaghetti scrubs

Whatever dish soap is on the cloth when I am cleaning up. Nothing "extry"as we say in AL :)

Whatever dish soap is on the cloth when I am cleaning up. Nothing "extry"as we say in AL :)

The OP has unoiled soapstone, as do I. Mine is Green Mountain original PA. I am wondering if those of you who say you use very little on your soapstone have soapstone you've oiled because mine doesn't seem all that easy to care for and keep looking good. I want to maintain the lighter grey, more matte look that it came with rather than have a darker, oiled appearance.

My unoiled soapstone has been in for about four months now, and, to be frank, am finding it more difficult to clean than the honed marble I also have in the kitchen. Just wiping with a soapy sponge or dishcloth leaves splotches or streaks on my ss. Even if I use something like Simply Green (I found a recommendation here for the product) sprayed on, I need to be very careful about making sure I thoroughly wipe/use a scrubbie side of the sponge, wipe off, and then wipe down until dry with a microfiber. This is a bit more than I care to do on a regular, daily basis.

What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

hmmm.....we clean our un-oiled SS w/just dish soap and water and let it air dry (it does rather quickly). Oily spots are the hardest to remove which just means you actually have to use a little soap and scub for a sec (not w/a scubby either). Sticky spots clean up rather easily, I've got 5 yo twins so they get all kinds of stuff on them. They've been in about 6 months and we're just going to let them patina naturally, the counter on the sides of the range are starting to darken up a little, but not much. That's the beauty of 'living' surfaces, they change over time. Hardwood, marble and soapstone among others add character to an environment because of the fact they aren't static and reflect the users in their surface. Seems a few people are a little disillusioned w/they're choice in these products as I'm not sure they completely understood what they were getting.

No SS here, only Carrara. My marble fabricator told me to use two drops of liquid dish detergent in a new spray bottle filled with distilled water. Cheap, easy, natural (depending on your detergent), and fast! It's been working well for me for about 21 months. It's gets my marble sparklier than just wiping with a soapy dishcloth.

I'm a bit of a germaphobe, but feel like my marble is clean this way. Well, there was the time I accidently cleaned the whole marble perimeter with the Bona floor cleaner.......

For our carrara top i use a mix of alcohol and water with a few drops of mint or orange essential oils in a spray bottle. Cheap, effective, non-toxic.

With oil and grease in foods, it's surprising that just a couple drops of detergent and water will get oily substances off. I don't find food vinegar does this very well on, say, glass surfaces.

I agree, Snookums. It seems as if it wouldn't work. It works like charm, however, each time.

Thanks all. If I were to make a sprayer for DH because he likes a spray bottle labeled countertop cleaner - does this work.. Distiller water, few drops of dish soap, a bit of alchohol(hoping this will prevent the water from getting moldy in the spray bottle). Going to give this a try:)

I find that Dawn brand works better than others. Honed Danby here.

I find that Dawn brand works better than others. Honed Danby here.

My first spray bottle load lasted about a year and a half without molding. No alcohol. It does sound like alcohol wouldn't hurt anything though. My spray bottle is labeled "marble cleaner", but DH still hasn't touched it. Ever. :)

I like twn's idea to put a bit of orange oil in the sprayer...I tend to like citrusy smelling things in the kitchen but obviously won't be spraying lemon on my marble. I wonder what the exact composition is of the marble cleaners that are found at some slabyards? Alkaline in nature but maybe just exactly the ingredients listed in posts above? Will have to look at the ingredients next time I go by one of those stores.

I use vinegar and water in a spray bottle on my SS. It is oiled, but the vinegar and water works fine to clean up everything. I re-oil it when it looks grayish. But I've only had it for about a month.

http://housekeeping.about.com/od/environment/tp/Ph-Levels-For-Common-Cleaning-Supplies.htm

This shows why diluted dish soap seems to be a good cleaner for marble.....