I would love to hear comments on this as well - we are really considering soapstone too.

I don't know about advice, but we love our soapstone. It does, however, take some work keeping it oiled or waxed in the first few years if you want a dark, even finish. Now that it is a few years old we only need to wax it once or twice a year (and waxing/oiling is, of course, entirely optional. Many people like the patina without oiling). I have no experience with honed granite so I can't compare the two.

Thank you! How often do you oil or wax it? Is one better than the other for the soapstone?

honed granite is definitely NOT low maintenance either!!! I had a client who kept a VERY tidy home...she insisted on honed black countertops against my recommendation... and even with TWO cleaning ladies in her home, she deeply regretted it. Every little thing leaves a mark...

Great info. Thanks.

Jessy Krol- do you happen to have a different recommendation? I've already talked myself out of carrera marble. Going for somewhat of a classic kitchen- White cabinets, subway tile,... Also love a bit of a vintage/industrial vibe.

The soapstone feels wonderful, looks great with the oiling and/or waxing. It also looks good as it develops it's own natural patina. But remember, that patina will not build up evenly, it will look blotchy and darker in certain areas where you touch it or oily things come into contact with it. If you take a dry cloth or paper towel and really rub on it, you can rub out some of the surface stains, these stains do not penetrate soapstone, it's too dense. But it's softer than granite, and will scratch and even chip. Those are things that can be wet sanded out up to a point. Basically, I'm saying that it's a beautiful, beautiful stone, but if you don't want maintenance, it's probably not for you. I have it in two houses, I would never want anything else. One house I sealed the soapstone the other, I oil occasionally.

I have a honed granite countertop (absolute black) and I love it. The biggest mistake that people make is using too many cleansers on it. Generally super hot water is all that is needed for cleanliness. Occasionally a mild soap. It really gives the old school chemistry lab look which is funny because soapstone was what was originally used in schools to my knowledge.

That is funny nonisig- the old school chemistry look is what I love about soapstone!

trust me I LOVE natural materials more than anything---but I personally am about as neat as the Chef on the Muppets...if you have heavy duty use, or am anything like me, I would suggest doing something like Cesar stone---you can do a matte grey and beef of the thickness and get the look of thick soapstone---synthetic quartz has come a long long long way, and i cant believe that i admit that i like it. for a shot of industrial, you can do a stainless farmhouse sink or stainless counter for a segment...either that or integrate a segment of the counter or island in butcher block (even just like a 24" wide piece) to add some wood in---butcher block comes in tons of colors and looks AWESOME when it has a 3-4" thickness. dont forget, you also have a hood---another place to add some quirk or that splash of industrial you want---can do a hood in a pewter with rivets or banding...or if you dont do butcher block you can do a rough wood beam above stove and concealed hood

hope this helps

My dad has granite and we have soap stone at work. The both have their draw backs. I went with slate. It comes in smooth to rough finishes and if you want black it is available. It looks great with the color enhancer/sealer. This is a picture of a rough surface. The color of mine is mottled because I used 16x16 tile but you can get slab.

We were in the same boat about a year ago. I was all for soapstone as I am really not a fan of granite or quartz. DH was all for honed absolute black granite for our island. By the time we came to our final decision I had flip flopped to granite for the low maintenance and no veining as I didn't want the soapstone to compete with the marble on the perimeter. I agree with poster above you only need hot water and a little dish soap and it stays beautiful. I love it. And DH is happy we don't have an island we have to be careful around!

We suggest color enhancing all the black absolute honed granite we install, it makes it a lot more fogiving on marks and fingerprints. And just dawn dish detergent is needed for cleaning. Natural stone sealer for sealing it once a year.

I agree with precision, I have color enhanced the honed absolute or jet mist and it is gorgeous and is easier on the maintenance.
Checking from time to time on how it is holding up for my clients and absolutely no complaints! Know your priorities, if no maintenance is important go with a great quartz, if a soft patina is your pleasure then enjoy!

Precision- How does color enhancing make the maintenance easier? Is it a form of a sealer?

It makes it darker, like a permanent "wet" look. And it will not show fingerprints and marks like a non enhanced stone would.

wonderful- thank you so much for the great info.

Yes, its a sealer. You can get it in a couple of different forms, Dry Treat makes a 5 year product, or we also use Tiger Ager- it brings out the natural dark look of any stone- the wet look i refer to. For example you might have a little dry river pebble/rock that has almost no color to it, if you put it in water it shows the natural colors in it. Hope it makes sense.

Precision- Would you color enhance even if you are doing a brushed or leathered finish? What about enchancing a black granite with some white veining such as Virginia/Jet Mist?

We suggest enhancement on all darker textured (brushed or honed) natural stones. The texture "dulls" the stone, and enhancer not only brings it back to life it also makes it more forgiving!

We just installed Classic Black soapstone in our kitchen and laundry area. It is so beautiful! From my research, soapstone is one of the toughest and easiest to care for stones. I would highly recommend it over granite. Granite is so overdone, I love the idea of having something most people don't have.

hmmm i have absolute black honed on our island, and the instructions distinctly say no sealing and no enhancing, the grain is too fine to absorb anything.

its not a LOT of work, although more than my quartz perimeter. just a soapy (dish soap) sponge and then lightly buff dry with a microfiber cloth in your other hand, otherwise it will dry streaky. the quartz does dry streaky but you cannot tell as its a white marble look.

a "leathered " finish on a dark granite is a great look too--and very forgiving

I debated for such a long time between honed virginia jet mist or soapstone. I have set the soapstone template date set up (although we haven't had to put down any money yet)... and I am still hoping I made the right decision. I ultimately am leaning towards soapstone because I felt like I never got a straight answer from a granite place. They all steered me away from honed granite. And one place (very reputable granite place in my area) would not even put a color enhancing sealer on it - they literally refused and said it would take it because dark honed granite is too dense. I asked another company if I got the jet mist and put the color enhancer on - and then used the Dry Treat over that, if that would keep it sealed for 15 years... and they went to ask the company and never did get back to me with an answer. When I followed up they said the rep never got back to them - so my guess is they really don't know the answer. Since I knew I wanted a honed or matte look - but did not want grey counters - I wanted the dark color enhanced wet honed look... I think soapstone is the best for me. I love that with soapstone I can control the color of the soapstone myself - and that it doesn't stain since it's nonporous. But I am very worried about nicks and scratches. I have a soapstone sample and have been purposely banging it up to see how easily it scratches and dents - and essentially if something even lightly falls on Barroca soapstone - it will leave a dent mark. I feel a little better about the fact that I can sand out any dents or scratches - but either way this is a very hard decision. To the people that have jet mist - it does look beautiful!

Equally confused my head is spinning. Soapstone I'm worried about pot rings and maintenance. Yes it doesn't seem like a lot of work reading about it but I ahd a maintenance sink that I never maintained and now want stainless steel. Leaning towards honed, enhanced granite....will see if that is an option here. I do love the look of marble Quartz but not the plastic feel and when I walked thru ikea their kitchens showed scratches on it. Anybody else have Quartz that shows scratches? And I worry about my kid putting a hot pot on my Quartz.

I'm not quite sure why you are worried about pot rings with soapstone, alcova, as soapstone is probably the only countertop material that is truly heat resistant. Maintenance is more the issue, if you are not interested in oiling or waxing. Now that our soapstone is 5 years old it has darkened permanently and doesn't need oiling or waxing any more, but for the first year or two there was indeed a bit of routine maintenance involved to get the dark, even look we wanted. But hot pots go right on it. They still make wood-burning stoves and fireplaces out of soapstone because of its imperviousness to heat.

Yes you definitely don't have to worry about rings from pots and pans from soapstone... As long as you keep it oiled. If you go with the grey look- I have heard it will leave rings. I just got mine installed a couple weeks ago and I absolutely love the soapstone and so glad I went with it. I feel like it's my baby and I oil it every night- definitely overkill but I'm happy to put the extra work in at the beginning to get the look I want. I am still nervous about chips in the eased edge... But I will just be careful. And if when it nicks I'll get over it. It's a countertop, not the end of the world. :)

Color enhanced virginia mist granite.

If you prefer the gray look with soapstone, and don't like the darker look you get from oiling it, you can use mineral spirits to clean off any pot marks, rings or oil that sits on surface. That will bring it back to the original unfinished look. I used a "grayer" soapstone at beach, and want to retain the lighter look, so I do that occasionally and it looks great. Just wipe it over the surface, done.

I'm having a real hard time finding virginia mist granite here on ontario. With respect to soapstone how easily does it chip? I would be looking at buying a black hard soapstone. I'm also wondering about kids etching it as they are waiting for meals? Do your kids etch/write on it? It's so beautiful!

Ours has never chipped in 5 years. But we don't have small children, just a teenager.

Oops.... Thanks sorry I think I asked you this in another thread. Thanks!

I am so thankful for this thread. The information posted is truly helpful. I love the look of soapstone, and as much as I want a hassle-free kitchen, I also want a timeless kitchen with character. Knowing what I need to do ahead off time to maintain it is making me lean further towards soapstone. I am not the best at maintenance, but wiping down your kitchen counter with oil/wax every few months sounds totally do-able! Thank you all! :)

I have both. I put soapstone in my mom's in law apt first and then when I did my kitchen, I went with a honed American black granite instead.

I will never do soapstone again, not so much because of the maintenance but the softness of the stone. It's literally like soap, hence the name. I can scratch it with my fingernail. After a year, the area around the sink cutout is completely chewed to bits. It looks horrible and my mom hates her $4000 countertops.

People warned me of the softness of the stone but they say that about marble too and I had just put in a marble bathroom and have had no issues with the marble so I figured, how bad could it be?

So, if you like that antique look of gouges and scratches all through your counters, then go with soapstone. My 1800's kitchen already looks like it's been there 100 years after only one year of use. But, if you are a neat nick and want a perfect pristine look, then the soapstone will drive you nuts. I think we had the counters installed only a day before the first ding reared its ugly head.

One last note is that I heard that the hardness does vary somewhat from slab to slab, so that may be some of my problem. I wish I had this Intel before I went the soapstone route so passing my experience along.

PS. I Love my granite and people do mistake it for soapstone all the time. I did start out iffy with that countertop too but after I put the stone enhancer/darkened on it, I couldn't be happier with it. It looks great, doesn't chip and I don't have to oil it constantly.

@p024008: What a nightmare! What you just described sounds like the kind of soapstone they use for carvings, not the kind usually used for countertops. There is no way that my soapstone counters could scratch with a fingernail, and the area around the sink looks like new after six years despite plenty of banging from pots and pans. We have Brazilian soapstone, which is quite hard, and it does indeed sound as if there is a wide range between different soapstone types and sources.

We installed soapstone a few years ago in our kitchen, and while I love the look and feel of it, I don't like how easily it scratches. The plumber even scratched it with one of his tools on the day of installation!! I oil it every few months, and yes, the oiling temporarily hides the scratches but it is not as durable as I had hoped. It is nice to be able to set hot pans, etc on it. But, it is NOT heat resistant though, as someone else mentioned. The stone absorbs the heat, when you remove the hot pan, the stone below is hot.

I posted the original thread and ended up doing soapstone on bothy counter and island. I love the feel, the matt finish and truly it is not hard to maintain. After 6 months of install I'm only oil about every 4-6 weeks and it's lasting longer each time. We are a family of five with two teenage boys and live ver hard. There is no problem. There might be the odd scratch but it is all part of the look and can be oiled off. We went with a harder soapstone I think PA. The only thing I might have done differently was to put a marble like quartz on my island oy from an aesthetic point. Just to lighten up the room. But otherwise I love it!! And get lots of compliments.

We also went with the soapstone. Still under construction, but love the look of it. Already a nick or two from the workers, but I dont mind, because I was fully prepared for that to happen (although they are much more careful around it now). I may start a new question, but am wondering about waxing vs oiling. Waxing seems like the way to go as you only need to do it once every few months, but most people seem to oil. Oil needs to be done more frequently and then you have the residue to contend with. Would love to hear about everyones experiences. Thank you!

Feeny... I would love to know the name of your soapstone in your kitchen. I want black with no green or blue in it. Also, love the white veining. I am having so much trouble with this....I don't mind waxing it to maintain the matte black color. Want to pair it with a honed Carrara island. Thanks! Jen

@sncs: I don't know the name of my soapstone. All I know is that it is from Brazil. But it isn't the one you would want if you are looking for the effect of a pure charcoal/black with white veining. Ours has some blue-green shading in it, even though it is very dark, almost-black. Many of the photos of soapstone counters I've seen from Alberene Soapstone in Virginia seem to be a purer gray that darkens to black with oiling/waxing and age, so you might take a look at their website.

Thanks for your reply feeny!

I have soapstone in my Vermont home. I did not oil it since the color is just beautiful naturally. If I get cooking oil on the counter, it will definitely stain initially but will dissipate after a week or so. You can also get sandpaper and lightly sand the area and it will disappear. It does chip, that’s the down side. The good thing about soapstone is once you can’t handle the look of the chips any longer, you can just have it professionally sanded. It’s a beautiful product and if you are looking for something different, I’d say go for it. I also have it around my fireplace and it looks amazing!