You read about the "experience". Get a soapstone. Or put some gloss on your quartz.

There is no " shows nothing at all" top. Clean, wipe, and dry. For all of them.

Will research soapstone. What I'd seen so far was black/dark which isn't what I was looking for. And I'm not as keen on the high shine quartz. May have to compromise on it, but researching matt look at the moment.

Agree they all need to be cleaned, wiped and dried, so wondering how difficult the light grey or white matt look ones really are. (Most comments on here are about black) and can't find anything on volcano silestone.

You may also want to post on kitchen thread, where many kitchen gurus can give you answers as well.

This is soapstone,With an un enhanced seal.Fire and counter tops same soapstone

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I used soapstone for my kitchen. It has it quirks, but I love it! I am happy to answer any questions that you made have.

Thanks for posting the pics. V interesting. Like the matt look and the colour isn't too dark. How is it for keeping clean? And what about other maintenance.

Have you heard of Sapien Stone? It would be the perfect choose for you!

"Keeping Clean" IS the maintenance . For any top. Soapstone is a rock. Literally. It can endure a hot pot placed directly on it with no issues. It can endure a kid dissecting a frog on it as long as you wash THAT up. It has been used in biology labs for eons. You wash it up with soap and water. Ordinary sand paper will remove a scratch. You get it, because you love the organic nature of it, or you don't get it.

What you are asking is ........? Something plain, matte gray, that shows no water spot, no fingerprints, no crumbs, no sign of use during a day of living and no effort at all and still looks PRISTINE all day? Not sure what that will be.

Soapstone is not exempted from the Natural Stone Institutes requirements that all natural stone requires trivet use.

As Jan mentioned, you can oil it or clean it with soap and water. It is that easy. I will scratch easily, so if you are bothered by imperfections like that, then this is not the stone for you. You can sand out scratches, but I haven't gotten a scratch that has made me run for the sandpaper. Oil will darken the stone, it will fade, but over time it will develop a patina, you can help it along by oiling it. I had my son's 3rd birthday party recently, and I can see the fingerprint smudges from where he was trying to steal more potato chips. If it truly bothered me, I can oil the whole stone to even it out, but right now it just makes me smile and it blends into the stone nicely.

I don't think that there is a matte gray solid surface that will not show signs of living. You just have to decide what you are okay with and what you are not.

Thanks for the input on soapstone - and will certainly take a look at it but from the pictures, not sure it's the overall look that I'm aiming for.

Was particularly looking for feedback from anyone who had experience with concrete finish in caesarstone and in silestone either the suede or
volcano.

I do understand that all surfaces need to be wiped and cleaned but some feedback seems to suggest that the matt effect caesarstone did not clean easily with a cloth - requiring special cleaning measures to remove simple watermarks and fingermarks. However, the comments seemed to refer to darker materials. So would be great to hear from anyone who has experience of the lighter materials.

Will investigate sapien too - hadn't heard of it before.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/caesarstone-stains-will-not-come-out-dsvw-vd~4357435[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/caesarstone-stains-will-not-come-out-dsvw-vd~4357435)

ttps://countertopinvestigator.com/caesarstone-countertops/

"Beware of Caesarstone HONED (matte) surface! It is porous, shows stains and marks easily. I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT!! We have Fresh Concrete
honed on our brand new kitchen counters and it has been a problem since
day one! I don't know where the positive reviews come from, but I am
having the exact problems ..."

"Making a decision today (gulp) on whether to get the rugged concrete or not. I've read some negative reviews about staining and difficult maintenance w Ceasarstone concrete
colors. Can anyone who has this say if the daily maintenance on the
rugged is an issue for them? Does it still look good after ...+

All that said,.........you must decide. : ) Buy a sample and beat the daylights out of it.

Maybe you should go look at ...............................Corian. yes, I said the C word. Low luster. About as forever as you can get.

Silestone is ten times easier to keep clean, as it is a denser and more quality controlled product. Though brands like Technistone, Quantra, Samsung are definitely worth looking at.

QSCCRE:

Ten times easier to keep clean than what? You certainly didn't mean Silestone is ten times easier to keep clean than Corian. Architects don't specify engineered stone for hospital surgical rooms, however, they do specify Corian for that purpose. There is a biological and maintenance reason.

omg............lol, here we go again

Proof! Joseph... big claims .... proof!! Substantiate your claims with scientific proof!

Ps every hospital I know has stainless steel in it with a min standard of 316 stainless.

PSS- why they also use epoxy grouts and floorings! not plastics

Check out honed Virginia Mist granite. Matte finish, reasonably priced, low maintenance, looks like soapstone.

Yes, Virginia Mist (AKA Jet Mist) granite, honed, is wonderful. I have it on a beverage bar (wine, coffee, tea) and it works very well. BUT I can see some markings especially from anything oily. They usually fade with time.

Jan is right, nothing will stay pristine all day, forever, as these are work surfaces.

@Joseph Corlett. I hope you check back on this thread; because I have been meaning to thank you for all of your posts and good information about Solid Surface Counter tops. Long ago I had Corian Linen in my kitchen and loved it. It looked the same 7 years later, when we moved, as the day it was installed. After that I was swept up in the Granite and Quartz trends for a few years--but, after reading several of your posts, I realized how much I missed the warmth, easy repair, quietness, etc. of my Corian. I recently had Corian Sea Salt installed in two baths--and LOVE IT! With several compliments and much interest from guests. I next plan to use it in our main bath. So anyway. Thank you. I truly appreciate your willingness to share your field experience and advice with us.

@susan I echo Jan's suggestion. If you plan a light gray, you really should look at Corian. It doesn't get much more matte than that. No stains. Does not absorb odors or bacteria. Easily buff out scratches--if you ever see them in the first place. Not as cold or clattery (is that a word?) as quartz and granite. Anyway, it may not be what you want at all--but you should take a look to make sure :)

We did white avonite countertops, LOVE THEM. So agree with Joseph, give solid surface a look if nothing else!

"Silestone is ten times easier to keep clean, as it is a denser and more quality controlled product."

Silestone has a density of 2.138, Caesarstone has a density of 2.2-2.4. Silestone is not more dense than Caesarstone, it is less.

"Substantiate your claims with scientific proof!"

N-kay.

If your counter, in any surface is HARD TO CLEAN? It must have a weeks worth of goo on it. My counter gets cleaned four times a day if I'm home. I don't breathe hard, or break a sweat. Jeeeeesh! Clean up after yourself, and teach the kids and DH...............THE SAME DARN THING

JAN MOYER like we have said, honed is no more difficult to clean than polished if you use the correct cleaner and procedures. Though like the post above, some brands are much better than others, Silestone is one of the better matte or suede finishes. But we also recommend that if you your go to the eternal range of silestone that you MUST only use what silestone recommend specially for that range... do not use anything else other than that or our power cleaner. At this stage silestone only recommend isopropyl alcohol to clean any of the eternal range.

Also as per the over post, Caesarstone would be our last choice.

Care & Cleaning Essentials for Stone & Quartz

Lets define clean as I meant it ? You can "clean" a window until there isn't a speck of bacteria let alone dirt..............................but aha! a streak!!! Again!

Such is the nature of all matte tops. Honed granite, soapstone, the matte Caesarstone as well. They're CLEAN . You can lick them very safely. They just won't always look perfect........: )

I thought the thread was about

but seems like the maintenance to keep mark free (not staining but spills, fingermarks etc) is a known issue. Would be really interested in any recent experience with light grey/white in either of these.

Which is what has been answered, and clean by definition is "free from dirt, marks and stains" as the thread poster wanted to know

I am sure 99.9% of all homeowners do not use a "blue light" to clean their benchtops or even windows. I am also sure that 99.9% of people don't lick the windows to check how clean they are.... I am sure the neighbours would be ring 911.

Hi people - fascinating discussion.

I am interested in a matte-finish quartz in white - for my new white kitchen.

I currently have beige speckled composite stone benchtops that have served the family well for 18 years. There are some very pale stains near the kettle, from spilt tea, and a few scratches, but virtually nothing else. I don't worry about fingerprints, as I have a life to live.

I am PARTICULARLY interested in how a white matte caesarstone product will stain, or not.

Is a matte product more absorbent? Or does it just require a little more elbow grease to wipe up? Has anyone actually lived with the product vs. sold it ??

Thanks for your help.

I worked in a biology lab when I was younger and we had soapstone countertops. There were smudges all over them but they really lasted. However I tried everything including wiping the countertops down with acetone to try to get the smudges out and nothing worked. Of course it did get heavy use in a biology lab so that might be a little different than a kitchen.

At my last house I had Caesarstone Raven which is a smoky gray with hints of misty white running through it. It was beautiful and I loved it so much I'm actually thinking about getting it again in my current house. I compared it with a lot of different colors, and the color is just right- not too brown not too cold. However last time I made the mistake of getting it honed and it smudged constantly. I did wash it multiple times a day but it was ridiculously difficult to get smudges out. Everything made it smudge. After trying mfg recommendations, I constantly ended up having to do something the manufacturer said not to do and use other solvents to try to get smudges out. It was really bad when the Sun lit up the area. Now I'm actually thinking about getting Caesarstone Raven without a matte finish in my current home but I'm wondering if I would be better off trying to find a Silestone equivalent color. So far I haven't been able to do that. I like the charcoal soapstone in silestone but it has blue undertones and looks a bit too cold. Any good recommendation for a smoky gray that's not too cold or too warm so it ends up looking brown?