I had soapstone for 8 years in my old house and am about to install it in my new one. After 8 years of moderate use it had very few dings or scratches. I always did work on cutting boards and used a black sharpie to fill in any scratches. Eventually they "oil" out. If you haven't oiled your soapstone you may discover that the darker color hides the imperfections. The darker color builds up over time.
I don't know if "lighter" indicates "softer," but there are softer versus harder varieties. There are a couple dealers with websites that list the hardness values that should be part of anyone's research (I think M.Texiera (sp?) is one).
All soapstone will have a certain patina down the road, especially with heavy use. If you can't live with it, I'd go with granite. For me, I absolutely love soapstone and hate the coldness and hardness of granite!

It sure sounds like you need to bite the bullet and replace it now. Your days will be filled with less stress. That is no way to live, being afraid to use your counters. You have to wonder why it was sold as a suitable countertop material. And it must have been a mess by the time it got to the yard.

Megan - you might ask your fabricator to come back and try sanding it down a bit. Florida Joshua (haven't seen him on here in some time) has responded to quite a few similar posts here on GW. Many times soapstone comes polished finer than it should be - this is what can contribute to the easy scratching. You can even try to do it yourself if you've got the guts. I've read (although please confirm before trying) 150 - 200 grit is good for soapstone and will give you that lovely velvety feel that we absolutely love.

FWIW I could scratch our SS sample with my fingernail too, so I sanded it down once to see if that helped and it make it 80% better. We have same the stuff installed in our kitchen now and have been using it for a couple months. We get tiny scratches here and there but no dings and everything oils out.

I dont know much about soapstone but I wonder if there is a way to buff out the scratches/ding with a polisher and then have it sealed. Maybe your installer would do this for free. I'm sure there is a way to live with soapstone counters as so many people love them. To me it seems like a terrible waste to have to buy a new countertop.

"Our installer has agreed to replace the countertop for us free of charge."

He's a poor businessman. Your car dealer doesn't take back the bright yellow job you fell in love with and are tired of two weeks later. Well, yes he will. He'll give you a trade-in and sell you a new one in another color.

Ask him to give you 90 days to live with it first.

I wouldn't want countertops that could not take some abuse. We live on a farm and the kitchen has to function, first. Nothing against those, who do love stone...but marble will patina and soapstone will scratch.

If you don't like it, don't keep it. I've read that dark soapstone holds up well (think chemistry lab) but if you don't want the worry...find something more durable :)

I think you have some misinformation on soapstone. Here is a thread that I think explains soapstone. Maybe getting the correct info will help you understand your stone better and help you make an educated decision.

One thing at jumped out at me was when you mentioned being sealed. It does not need to be and shouldn't be sealed!

Here is a link that might be useful: soapstone

"Your car dealer doesn't take back the bright yellow job you fell in love with and are tired of two weeks later. "

She's not "tired" of it. That's just stereotyping. The yellow you see is a lemon. This particular piece of stone would not seem to be of suitable quality to perform as a kitchen counter. If you can't use utensils or slide a cardboard box on it without causing damage, there is something wrong with the counter material, not the customer, who never should have been sold such a substandard piece to begin with.

My soapstone, I believe it is Juniper, was installed a few months ago. I did oil it several times and while it does scratch easily, the scratches have blended together well. My issue is the sharp edges my installer left, they are too easy to chip. A little bump and there is a divot. I had a pretty awful fabricator and he left very visible seams and these sharp edges so I am having a stone restorer come next week to ease the edges a bit and smooth the seams. It's funny, the fabricator gave me a discount because he was so slow getting the job done and that is exactly what the restorer is charging to fix his mistakes. I do love the feel of my soapstone and as frustrating as this has been I would never replace it.

We have some natural soapstone outcroppings in this area. Soapstone is talc. When ground into powder, it is called talcum powder. Great liner for fireplaces as it has high heat resistance -- and is easily worked with hand tools.
We had one unpaved road with the rock exposed in the road bed-- impassible in wet weather because it was as slick as ice.
In my opinion it is not a good choice for kitchen countertop- too soft.

Snookums- Well said! If the installer is willing to replace it...wouldn't asking for 90 days make it seem like one's okay with an inferior product? How having more time would somehow make it less inferior?

Sounds like ray Liotta's face, I mean Barocca soapstone.

Sorry to say, you're right. You didn't do enough research. Each variety of soapstone has unique characteristics, and you need to test a sample in advance of the exact one you're buying. If you're not willing to do that, first get it ground to the proper grit. If that doesn't work, get another stone.

Soapstone doesn't need to be sealed. It's nonporous. You can use an enhancing sealer to keep it black, but it won't help any of your other issues.

My soapstone fabricator who works exclusively with Green Mountain soapstone, which is a hard architect grade soapstone, finishes with a 75 grit paper.

IMO, a smoother finish invites more blemishes. I think the stone when it comes from the yard is finished with 400 paper and I think few fabricators do anything with it before installing it.

Lots of misinformation bandied about regarding soapstone. We love our counters and sink!

This post was edited by Quadesl on Thu, Nov 6, 14 at 9:43

I have had soapstone for 3 months now, and I waxed mine the first day it was installed and once about a month ago. I don't know if mine is harder then yours, but I don't have a scratch, ding or anything wrong with it. My 24 year old son stayed at our house for 4 weeks while we were gone and I couldn't find anything wrong with the soapstone. When I was gone I was having nightmares to what I was going to come home to in my kitchen, everything was fine when we returned.

Thank you for all your responses to my post. The information you've provided is very helpful.

Swentastic and others mentioned that perhaps the stone has been polished too fine and that is why it scratches easily. I've read that sanding it with something like 80 grit will help the stone not scratch so easily. Another thread mentioned EcoFabrication in Austin (my town) that came and resurfaced their soapstone and the result was no more scratching. However, this company is no longer in business.

The installer is willing to do anything so that we are happy with it. Maybe I should try having it sanded down? I actually prefer to not oil the stone because I prefer the lighter gray, however it may be necessary to hide the scratches and oil marks.

I'm posting a picture of my soapstone from the first day when it was installed and before any scratches or oil marks marred the surface.

I

That is gorgeous.

Are you going to give it a go with the sanding? Our soapstone scratches pretty easily too, but not with cardboard. DH wants to oil or wax but I just love the gray color. Good luck!

ItsTheDetails- can you tell us what soapstone you have. I have 2 slabs of Barocca picked out, for install in a few weeks, but am getting very nervous about the softness issue. I'm going back this weekend to look at Stormy Night, which is harder, and less prone to scratches.

scpalmetto - you can knock down the edges of your counters with a router and carbide bit or even a good hand sander. We had ours cut to a 1/8" bevel because I knew the chipping would be an issue. So far so good but it's still a baby so there's plenty of time to destroy it LOL :-)

Megan - I think it would be the least expensive and intrusive step to have your fabricator sand it first before going with a different stone. You can also spot-sand it yourself when you get more scratches down the road (you WILL get scratches even after they sand, but not as easily).

I understand not wanting to oil it (BTW your stone is gorgeous!) but it seems the nature of soapstone is to change colors no matter what you do so if that drives you bonkers, you might be better off with something else. If I oil ours, inevitably soap around the sink lightens the stone. If I leave it unoiled, DH cooks bacon and suddenly there's a dark grease spot next to the range.

My mental health improved greatly when I adopted a "wabi sabi" attitude about our SS counters and wood floors. Perhaps you could find a way to see beauty in the imperfect?

Meagan, your soapstone is beautiful!
Looks quite similar to mine, which is Mariana, and is also relatively soft. Ours has been in about 20 months, I oiled for the first few months, and then let it go natural.
I think you need to give it time, after about six months of heavy use, all the scratches blend and give it the patina soapstone is known for. It just gets better with age, like an old leather chair. Soapstone is not for everyone, but if you are a "soapie" you will know it and embrace the natural beauty of a stone that is so durable, yet soft, which seems like an oxymoron, but it's not!
Hope it works out for you, Chris

Say what you want about Corian and other solid surfaces, but I've been selling and fabricating them for twenty years and have yet to have a single customer express regret.

Nothing against Corian Treb, but you're going to have to wait 200 years or more to see if Corian holds up like soapstone ... it's in homes that old, and older ;)

denise142 - The soapstone was just marked with Brazil on it, I attached the link below where I purchased it. It is harder and does have green veining.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soapstone

Was it truly scratched by cardboard? Or was there grit under the cardboard?

I know it sounds like semantics but it would help to explain how something as soft as cardboard could scratch it.

Yours does sound soft. My soapstone (from Alberene) does scratch, but not from a fingernail! The few scratches don't bother me and they vanish when I wax it.

Personally while I like the look of it unwaxed/oiled I couldn't live with it that way. Every speck of oil shows up, like splatters from cooking, a ring when you sit down the bottle of olive oil, etc. I have no interest in scrubbing those!

If you're sure you want it gone then go ahead and take your installer up on his very generous offer.

If you're on the fence then asking for a 90 day evaluation period is a great option. You may discover that you like it oiled and then rub an oil-impregnated rag (I keep one in a ziploc in the sink tilt-out) over the scratch and it's gone.

meaganebrown - I'm sorry I couldn't answer your questions about wax and oils. The reason I'm posting is because I really want soapstone, but posts like yours make me nervous! Really nervous!

ctyctm and other soapstone owners - Is this the patina I should expect with Barroca?

[Farmhouse Spaces[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2114) by Grand Rapids Media & Bloggers Alison Hodgson

and this:

[Farmhouse Spaces[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2114) by Grand Rapids Media & Bloggers Alison Hodgson

and this:

[Farmhouse Spaces[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2114) by Grand Rapids Media & Bloggers Alison Hodgson

and this:

[Farmhouse Spaces[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2114) by Grand Rapids Media & Bloggers Alison Hodgson

The above is something I can live with. Apparently this person has only oiled her counters twice in three years.

**edited to acknowledge OP's original post**

This post was edited by Hydragea on Sat, Nov 8, 14 at 20:02

Megan
If you're in Austin call the team at Latera who carry Soapstone. I know Ecofabrication is no longer around, but I think they know where the soapstone specialists are working now. They might be able to give you some help to point you to the right guys. The soapstone we got from them is crazy hard and we don't have any scratching/chipping yet (18mo later). But, some samples we got were soft enough to scratch with a slightly pressed key, so I know what you mean about 'soft'.

Hydragea -

I have Barroca and yes that is the type of patina you should expect. I just tested with a cardboard box of apples and slid it across my counter and it did NOT scratch it. Out of curiouslty, I slid a can of soap across it....nothing. I even pressed down on it and turned...nothing. I think it would have shown marks 3 years ago when it was first installed, but now that it's developed an oxidized layer...it doesn't scratch as easily.

Mind you it does scratch and I have many scratches I can see...but it seems a little more resistant now.

I have a one or two chips like the one near the penny. A handful more that are much smaller. Mostly around the sink cutout where I accidentally bang pots etc.

But I love the patina it's developing...it's turning into the kind of kitchen surface you would expect to see in a 100 year old farmhouse. It's not for everyone.

Here are some pictures of my soapstone. All but the last 4 are from right after they were installed. The last 4 I took tonight showing some "patina". Around the sink you will see chips and whitish areas since it is not evenly oxidized around the sink since there is always so much soap and water around.

I oiled my soapstone several times the first year and maybe 1 or 2 times the 2nd - 3rd years. I haven't done it for at least 1 year now...maybe longer. It was installed almost 4 years ago.

Here is a link that might be useful: some pics of my soapstone

Keep in mind that sealing something isn't necessarily going to protect anything from impact or abrasive damage. Sealing something protects it from substances such as water, oils, acidic things, wine, etc.

If you can find something for stone that seals it and protects something from physical damage such as you describe? Market it.

We had a guy come in who specializes in restoring natural stone. He explained my soapstone had never been properly finished to begin with which was why it was scratching so easily. After he was done refinishing he put a heavy layer (literally poured it on and rubbed it in with his hand) of mineral oil on and said to leave it for 24 hours then wipe it down and do it again every day for a week. This meant I really couldn't use the kitchen for a week but WOW, after we cleaned it up it was gorgeous and it is not scratching at all so his finishing and the oiling have worked perfectly. We just had a big crowd for thanksgiving and everyone was working in the kitchen and there is nary a scratch or a chip.

scpalmetto, I'm so glad you're happy with it now!

What grit did he finish it to?

I'm glad the refinishing worked out. I'm also interested in the finish he used.

I have 2 slabs of Barocca SS on hold, all paid for and ready for install whenever we're ready. Your post was making me reconsider whether I should have purchased the harder Stormy Black instead, or even another material altogether.

It is so good to hear you are pleased now. Do you know what gritt paper he used?

So glad to hear you gave it a chance!
I too, would like to know what grit he finished to?
Inquiring minds need to know...Chris

DH says he thinks it was 220. We were in the middle of remodeling the master bath while the refinishing in the kitchen was going on - total chaos in the house so I truly do not remember. I am going to email the guy and check; I'll let you know if it is different.

Here is a link that might be useful: stone craftsman that did the work

Excellent info - thank you!

And glad you've figured out how to make your soapstone work for you. I'm sure this will help others.