lanaev85- With regard to soapstone, we are looking to replace our countertop with soapstone, and I recently visited Alberene Soapstone, in Virginia. While soapstone does scratch, the denser it is-- and, from what I understand, the bluer/black it is-- the harder it is to scratch. Waxing it covers most scratches. In fact, I got a sample from them-- and I took a paring knife and scratched as hard as I could with it (as though I was cutting something on it). I would never do this, but I figured that's the worst it would get-- in our house, at least. And wax did cover it those scratches. The good thing about soapstone is that it is completely non-porous (unlike limestone or concrete), and you can put anything hot on it at any time. It's really beautiful. You can get it with a lot of veining, or very little. I think most soapstone that's sold to consumers here is from Brazil-- and the higher-end Brazilian soapstone is beautiful-- but I have this thing about buying domestically when I can. Check out Alberene-- it's the only place in the U.S, still actively quarrying soapstone-- and it's really stunning. In fact, we're replacing a 20-year old limestone countertop, because it looks so bad (any and everything will stain it-- that goes for concrete, too).