Looks too perfect in colouring to be natural stone. Corian?

That is what I was thinking, but I also thought engineered things would not have an issue with staining? I'm so confused! I think it is engineered though. Too uniform.

Corian doesn't stain either...although it really looks like it could be Corian with an integrated sink.

I *think* the sink is undermount, but I haven't looked closely in a long time, and don't remember!

That looks like the Kohler Ladena undermount sink. The back is straight but the sides are curved. It's quartz.

Yes the sink has a flat front and back. Thank you! I can't imagine how she is noticing stains on quartz! I need to get over there and inspect for myself lol

"I also thought engineered things would not have an issue with staining".

Yes, you are right - but your friend may be wrong about what she has in her kitchen. Did she install it herself or was it there when she moved in? She could notice stains if they are a different colour to the stone (e.g tumeric is bright yellow, red wine stains)

It is only in her bathrooms, they had it installed while building the house last June.

Pure white is going to show a stain, but it should come right out with Soft Scrub with Bleach, which the quartz manufacturers recommend as a non-abrasive cleanser for stains.

Super white is almost never a quartzite, even though the stone yards label it that way. It is almost always a marble. The countertop geology threads tell you how to test whether a stone is a marble or a quartzite. My sample of super white is definitely a marble--does not scratch glass and etches.

Oh, and that picture doesn't look like stone to me.

crl_, I had been told that the super white coming out now has more calcium and is behaving more and more like marble. I will definitely be getting a sample and testing it before making a decision. I think some people on here, maybe who have older super white, call it bullet proof. Maybe I can find another white quartzite like the monte blanc or something. (Although I don't know if that is just another name for the same thing! I feel like there are several different pet names for some of the white quartzites.)

The names are more clues than real labels. I saw the same stones with different names, including different classes (marble, quartzite, etc). I don't know if what is being called super white has switched over time. But my sample was definitely a marble. Be sure to read at least the most recent countertop geology thread for information on how to distinguish the stones. I would have been really upset if I had bought super white thinking I was getting a bulletproof quartzite only to find out it etched after the fact.

What are your thoughts on the people who have said that the quartzite itself was not etching, but that it was so dense the sealer just set on top of it and THAT was what was etching?

I don't really have any way to tell whether or not that's what was happening in some instances. But my sample was not sealed. So that can't be what happened in my case. Also, my sample of super white does not truly scratch glass. So it cannot be a quartzite.

If you read the countertop geology thread you will see that GW's resident geologist says that the test results most people get with a stone sample labeled super white are consistent with dolomite (hope I got that right) marble, which is slightly different and slightly harder than carrara and some other popular marbles. So it may make tiny marks on glass and may have delayed etching rather than instant etching. Very consistent with my tests on super white. Contrast that to some other quartzites that easily scratched glass for and it's pretty clear that what was labeled super white quartzite at the stone yard I was at is NOT quartzite.

Is there a list anywhere of common names of white/white and gray quartzites that are actually quartzite? I am reading the geo threads now!

I don't know if there is a list. And you definitely have to test each stone to be sure you know what you are getting. But I have seen white macabus and Taj Mahal on here that seem to be pretty consistently actually be quartzite. The slabs I saw, white macabus is more grey and Taj Mahal is more cream

(We didn't love any of the quartzites we saw in multiple stone yards enough to fork over the higher prices for them. So we are going with honed carrara and plan to embrace the patina. White macabus was by far my favorite quartzite to go with the white cabinets we had already settled on.)

Great explanations CRL! Thank you for helping to spread the word about the many misconceptions around Super White and the quartzite/marble conundrum.

Thank you for all the wonderful and patient explanations you have given here, Karin!