My Soapstone is about 3 1/2 years old. I oiled it for the first few months but then decided to let it go naked. While oiled does look more elegant, our house is more casual and I really prefer the natural feel and look of un-oiled.

No downsides other than a less uniform appearance.

I stopped oiling the island but like the darker look on perimeters. However, the color isn't all that different (1 year, stormy black variety). The veins are more dramatic when oiled (I use a bees wax blend - it lasts longer). Our island is small and it is where we roll out dough (which picks up the oil or wax and leaves a faded spot - I don't want mineral oil in our baked goods). And my husband's laptop leaves marks from the "feet" which also pick up oil so that counter was always blotchy. It is the perfect countertop for us. It has never been as light as the day they were installed though. They darken with time.

We left our counters unoiled for five years when we first got it. The light blue-ish gray color was exactly what we were looking for when we did the kitchen:

About a year ago I for some reason decided to start oiling it. I also use a wax/oil combo. It's stays dark without having to redo it very often, and I know that I can take it back to the "naked" look whenever I want. No real downsides to either choice, as far as I can see.

Thanks everyone! Sounds like it will be fine whether we oil or not.

I like the oiled look much better on mine: it brings out the lovely emerald green tones. But you can always try oiling and then stop if you want it to go back to gray.

We got soapstone with the intention of keeping them unoiled. I did not want any green in it so went with Minas, which is very light grey unoiled (and also the softest soapstone.) I do try to keep oily things off the countertops, as that 'stains' them, while everything else washes off.

Ours was oiled once when installed (about 5 years ago), not since. We have Beleza. The areas where we cook are somewhat darker.

I initially oiled my Julia but it really began to take too much time. I stopped several years ago. The soapstone has been developing a lovely pantina - oil from kneading dough, rolling out pie dough, extra. I really like the look.

Lots of people don't oil and I'm not planning to. I like the lighter look, too. But as people have said above and from samples I've seen, it actually takes some effort to maintain that look as well: a certain amount of oil transfers/builds up from daily use. People talk about using soap and water. When people talk about switching from oiled back to unoiled, solvents get talked about to strip more completely/quickly.

Yes, I was quizzing the soapstone guy about this the other day. He says the best thing to take off oil is acetone, but that can strip the paint finish on your cabinets if you're not careful. Alcohol was his next recommendation, then soap and water.

My soapstone was a very light gray when first installed and was not the attractive rich charcoal color I wanted. I used mineral oil often the first year to speed up natural oxidation process that occurs with the stone when exposed to water, grease and oils. I now have a uniform look across the entire surface that maintains and only needs occasional oil around the sink area. I imagine those that never oil have counters that vary in color quite a bit around certain work areas.

We recommend treating our soapstone after installation. We always apply our soapstone wax after installation and leave the
homeowner with our soapstone oil to apply regularly.

Some our customers are treating their soapstone less frequently, though. They
like the lighter look of soapstone. However, since the soapstone is not
treated/aged completely, it may and/or will age inconsistently especially
around the sink or stove area. Not to worry, either way. If you're not liking what this looks like, just apply your soapstone wax oil or wax.