Do you think it is a true soapstone? I saw lots of "leathered or river wash granite" but not soapstone. It is much softer and I don't know how it would hold up with use. I ended up going with a leathered granite in the powder room and a river washed granite on the perimeter of the kitchen. I love soapstone,but just ended up choosing something else. I didn't want the shiny hotel look of polished granite so I love the leathered granite. I also love the look and feel of soapstone. I can't imagine why one would leather" soapstone as the texture already feels so great.
what would you use for a backsplash?

Yes, there are leathered soap stones. I think there are pictures out there on the Terecina website. You might want to call them (they are very nice and very helpful) and ask how people like the leathered finish. I think it is gorgeous!

Here is a link that might be useful: teresina soap stone

I would think the biggest issue would be the inevitable scratches that would occur and how you would handle that. A traditional matte finish soapstone can just be sanded out by the homeowner, whereas the specialty finishes like leathering aren't readily reproducible in the home. That would mean if you sanded out a scratch, that it would have a different finish than the rest of your countertop. Magnify that by a couple of years of use. It's going to look hodgepodge, even with oiling, until you have it professionally refinshed. That's not an expense or hassle that I would personally want to deal with. Obviously, leathered granite doesn't have the same issues as it's much much harder.

Lucy..not sure on the backsplash yet, but I was looking at soapstone rather than granite.

livewire..the scratches is why I asked & for the same reason as you've described. Beautiful material, but it may not stand the test of the real world like normal soapstone. Looks like normal soapstone is in the cards for me.

thanks,

Just got back from the granite yard (5th time) and they showed me a leathered green soapstone which they also called a granite. They said it's really a granite. It's so hard to tell when so many stones have so many different names. Anyone have any more pics of cream cabinets with green soapstone (esp leathered) countertops?

We've done a couple of leathered soapstone countertops and Joshua is out actually doing a leathered kitchen today. The leathering process does not affect the integrity of the soapstone, it's just a texture difference.

The typical customer who likes the leathered soapstone tends to leave it unoiled and they also don't mind the scratches in the stone since the leathered stone looks pretty rustic to begin with. We actually have the diamond brushes in house so we can leather any type of soapstone and we also have some quarry leathered stone as well.. I personally like our finishes better since we can make the stone look more or less dramatic.

I personally have a leathered piece on a wine rack and really enjoy it.. but it's a wine rack, not a complete kitchen and I've left it unoiled. I agree with the mindset that if you don't want the scratches and sanded them the countertop would look hodge-podge.

below are some pictures... just in case you change your mind :)
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Nice pics...I can feel it just by looking at it. Awesome material.

But alas, I'm an oiler & taking a chance on it not looking good for the long term would probably keep me awake at night.

I have another question on soapstone...but I'm start another thread.

Thank you, Florida Mimi. Those pics looks great. That looks like a green...am I right?

It's amazing how Soapstone can take on the tones of what's around it....

The first pic was of Python which is real black when oiled
The second of Black Venata which also tends to have more black tones.. and the third is of Brazilian Black which normally shows a lot of green.. but in this picture looks almost pure black.

We have leathered soapstone in our cabin. It is beautiful. People come over and can't help but touch the countertop. It feels amazing. And looks better. But not a lot of fabricators have experience with this product. We learned the hard way while installing leathered soapstone in our new home.

I'm making the same type of decision as we just made a 10-hour round trip to view leathered Churchill soapstone slabs. I like the veining they contain (which is more than I've seen elsewhere lately) but the leathering makes them feel something akin to reptile skin - very bumpy - and several of the whitish veins are gouged out so that they look and feel like deep scratches. I use the kitchen a LOT so I can see the value in having a surface that can hide the nicks and bumps but this degree of texture may be more than what I can live with. I've liked the leathered granites and quartzes I've seen (and these are not options for various reasons) so I expected to like leathered soapstone but even if the leathering was done correctly I'm debating whether to keep looking.

florida_mimi

Your wrote (16 years ago :O) --

"The typical customer who likes the leathered soapstone tends to leave it unoiled and they also don't mind the scratches in the stone since the leathered stone looks pretty rustic to begin with. We actually have the diamond brushes in house so we can leather any type of soapstone and we also have some quarry leathered stone as well.. I personally like our finishes better since we can make the stone look more or less dramatic."

Q: for florida_mimi or whomever can field it:

• I was wondering, if you had a client who installed honed soapstone and either left it unfinished or occasionally oiled it over the years, and if they saw it was getting scratched-up, could you brush it on-site (years later) to 'update' the look of the countertops to leathered/weathered?

@Jim P Dooley, Florida Joshua shut down his store about 8 years ago, and moved to Pennsylvania. Neither he or Mimi are around here anymore.

Speaking as someone who’s had a soapstone kitchen for nearly 10 years, get yourself a hard variety of soapstone, and scratches will be a non issue. My variety is Belvedere. It’s extremely hard. The only scratch was made by a cast iron pan, dragged along the counter by my late husband. A little rubbing with a green Scotch pad, and a drop of mineral oil was all that was needed. By the next day, the scratch couldn’t be seen.

thanks, @darbuka! I'm glad to here your experience with Belvedere,esp. as I've already asked my contractor for samples of the lower-talc / harder varieties I've read about: Belvedere, Stormy Black (not sure it's a different type or rebranding), and Anastacia 😄

@darbuka, beautiful!