I agree, I think you effectively sanded it down to too high a grit.

I'm LMAO at the thought of unoiled soapstone. I hope you don't have little kids! In the early days you could tell when ours needed to be waxed because there'd be a sea of "oiled spots" at the section of island where the littlest kids sat. It was clean, cleaned with Dawn, even, it just ended up oiled in those spots. Same with next to the range from cooking splatters.

Hi, I made the magic eraser mistake! i now have a dark area- did your area return to light gray over time? If so, do you think the dawn helped? Thanks!