First of all, not all soapstone is soft. Soapstone runs the gamit of hardnesses…from so soft, you can scratch it with a fingeranail, to moderately hard, to extremely hard, like I have. My variety, Belvedere, only scratched when my husband dragged a cast iron pan across a section near the rangetop. Because of the nature of soapstone, I was able to erase the scratches easily by sanding, and applying a little mineral oil.

When planning our kitchen some years ago, we also explored slate. In fact, we drove 7 hours from our home on Long Island, to visit the Sheldon Slate Company, way upstate NY. Family business, and lovely people. We got the grand tour, and came home with a heavy book of samples, glued to pages.

I tested all of the samples, with all kinds of condiments, sauces, and oils. The red, green, and purple varieties, performed flawlessly. And, while I loved the luxurious looking, matte purple, I was not brave enough to commit to coordinating the rest of the kitchen elements around purple. Unfortunately, the grey and black slate sample were more porous. Many of the tested items left marks. Slate, like soapstone, does not get sealed.

Since all soapstones are impervious to anything and everything, and never needs sealing, we concentrated on soapstone. We knew enough to go to a company that specializes in soapstone, and not a generic stoneyard. We ventured an hour to M. Teixeira, the largest soapstone dealer/fabricator in the US. We had a wonderful experience, from beginning to end. I was looking for a hard variety, and a slab with green and white inclusions. A member of Teixeira’s staff, helped us find the perfect slab. That was nearly 7 years ago.