I can answer one of your questions. Bucks County Soapstone generally offers only one kind of soapstone, Black Venata, which is very beautiful but also very soft. They do have some kind of *sealer* that keeps the stone from discoloring with oil (but doesn't change the look or feel of it), which is very cool because you won't get oil marks if you want to keep it gray.

When I was there several months ago they were expecting some new stone from Brazil which may have been a different type but I got the distinct impression that they only carry one variety at a time.

This is my soapstone unoiled.

This is my soapstone oiled.

The soapstone is Minas, purchased from Dorado Soapstone. The maintenance is going to depend on which soapstone you go with. Most people oil, but there are several on GW that have not oiled and love it. I prefer to use a mineral oil/beeswax mixture that I learned about on the forum. Oiling helps to hide any dings or scratches you might get and depending on your soapstone, some are very hard and don't ding very easily and others are somewhat softer and might get a more distressed look. If you oil when you first get your stone, you will probably oil it every week or 2 and then once a month for several months. The oil does not penetrate the stone (as it is nonporous), but does darken it.

I'll respond in more detail soon--my soapstone (dark Julya, which is very hard) goes in tomorrow!!!

I've only had my Green Mountain Original soapstone for a few weeks, but am in love with it! It seems pretty hard. I've told the kids not to cut directly on it, though. I wanted the GM Original since most people here reported being happy with it. In Eastern PA, Philadelphia Soapstone has this variety, as well as other types. (No idea of western PA sources, sorry).

I like it how it looks both oiled and unoiled; I may try it both ways. I think the only problem with not oiling is that you will see dark spots caused by spilled oils and butter that may take a few days to disappear.

Do a search for trailrunner's soapstone sink, lots of advice there.

My soapstone (Beleza from Dorado Soapstone) is naturally fairly dark (quite a lot darker than the unoiled Minas pluckymama posted above but not as dark as the Minas oiled). It has darkened some in the 8 months since it's been installed but I've never oiled it.

Beleza is quite hard and in 8 months all we've seen are a few very minor scratches and tiny dings, noticeable only if you really search.

Maintenance-wise I'd say it's quite easy, if not quite as forgiving of crumbs and greasy spots as my old hideous laminate. I do have to wipe it down more often to keep it from looking dirty (not really a bad thing; I shudder to think how grimy my old counters probably were most of the time) but the wipedown is as simple as a squirt of dish soap on a damp sponge (to cut the grease). I have no problem with water marks or grease spots that resist cleaning. I don't know if oiled soapstone would be harder to maintain.

Regarding children and soapstone: I have two teenagers and their attendent teenage friends and have had no problems.

I would not call the Beleza "sparkly" but it does have beautiful understones of glimmery green, which I love, as well as some slightly sparkly white veins.

Buck's County carries Black Venata. I got a sample and it was incredibly soft, easy to scratch, and easy to ding. We are going with Original PA.. it is beautiful and very hard. I let my kids whack at it with all sorts of things (measuring cups, a piece of granite, a screwdriver). It survived relatively unscathed.

Whatever you go with, make sure you test it.

I have Black Venata, and I LOVE it. Yes, it is softer than some varieties and it does scratch and ding more easily. But, in the more than a year that I've had it, I have yet to have any serious scratches or dings, and we are NOT easy on it. Every scratch has disappeared with oiling. The flip slide to the softness issue is that, if you ever do get a bad scratch, you can very easily get rid of it with sandpaper.

Don't let oiling scare you away! Mine took close to a year to maintain its darkness for a long period, but the oilings became less frequent as the year wore on. Oiling soapstone is very easy and is, to me anyway, a pleasure. I really enjoy the process. And, fortunately, as the novelty of it begins to wear off, it needs less frequent treatments.

I mostly use plain mineral oil, but have occasionally used the beeswax/oil combo. I have found that I tend to get water spots after waxing--not terrible or permanent ones, but ones that do show up--so I have done that less often. Waxing does make it stay darker longer, though.

Soapstone does have a very different look and feel to it than granite or other materials. I love its matte finish, its wild variations in veining, and its silky soft feel. It's essentially worry-free, because you can't stain it and putting hot items directly on it won't hurt it.

This weekend, we had our first very large party since the new kitchen. By far the biggest hit was the soapstone. Everyone loved it, stroked it, and commented on it.

I love, love, love my soapstone, and I would choose it again in a heartbeat.

I could repeat holligator's post: we have Black Venata (from Bucks County Soapstone, we're in the philly suburbs) and we are NOT at all gentle with it, any dings or scratches go away with oiling. We've had it about 3 months.

And I also LOVE to oil. I have such a love affair going on with my soapstone, oiling is our fornication! And it's not like I love cleaning, I just find such a satisfaction in it.

"Is it as carefree as it seems?" Absolutely, yes.

"Do soapstone and children go together well?" I've got 3 young children and we're so grateful to have the soapstone because it is so forgiving.

"I'm unable to find that post now and wondering if anyone is familiar with a "sparkly" soapstone?" I recall thinking my soapstone was a bit sparkly when it was first installed, but I just went to look at it and am finding no obvious sparkle... maybe it goes away with time?

"What about a soapstone sink? Yay or Nay?" I originally thought I wanted a soapstone sink, but decided against it #1 because I wanted more contrast and attention drawn to the sink, thought ss against ss would just blend too much, so we got white fireclay and it really pops. #2 in hindsight I'm glad I didn't because I think it would be too much maintenance - my sink takes a lot of abuse, and unlike the countertops which are flat and easy to oil, I couldn't imagine having to oil the sink.

Anyway, I also love, love, love my soapstone, and would choose it again in a heartbeat.

{{gwi:1573424}}

My fabricator called my stone "Brazilian Eyes". I have no clue as to its real name. It is a darker, harder type. I don't have any white veins but some dark green/crystalline swaths/smudges.

I oiled my stone after installation last spring, decided I liked it better lighter, and kept it natural all last summer. This past fall, I wanted to have a cozier feel for the cooler weather, so I oiled it. As the weather has warmed up, I again am finding I want my counter to reflect my lighter feel.

This weekend, I gave my kids a puddle of soap (Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap), a little water and let them fingerpaint all over the counter. They had a blast and by the time it all got cleaned up, the counters were pristine and natural again.

I love my soapstone.

I have Minas soapstone from Dorado which I don't oil. It is naturally very dark and oiling just doesn't seem necessary - it looks gorgeous without it. I did oil a few times after it was installed and it isn't hard at all, and it is kind of fun :)

I have 3 kids aged 10, 8, and we live hard in our kitchen. We aren't gentle...I cut directly on the soapstone, the kids cook, etc. We have a few very minor scratches that no one but me would notice.

I would do soapstone again in a heartbeat. I love the dark, matte look of it and it is as effortless as my previous granite was. Maintenance = wipe it with a dishrag when necessary!

{{!gwi}}

Anita

We have Black Venata which is one of the softer varieties and I have to echo holligator and momof3kids - even with it being a softer variety, I haven't had any problems with the counters and my 2 very active kids and the 30 or so kids who think they live here (their friends.) I like to bake and kids like cookies. Every time I grab something out of the oven, I smile because I don't have to look around for a trivet. I can just set piping hot cookie trays right on the counters.

I really, really appreciate all the responses! Such lovely pictures too!

I'm pretty much sold on it now. The local granite yard just called me back and i'm excited to find that they do carry it. Yay! Their website didn't list it so I was concerned finding it would be an issue. He said they have Original Verde and Original PA. Sounds like the latter is for me as I don't think a green tinge would work well with the other colors I am leaning towards.

momof3kids pa - Your kitchen is stunning. Very close to my original color choices, then I changed........only to have changed back a few minutes ago when I found out the cabinet finish I wanted was an $8000 upcharge. Ugh.
Thank you for your suggestion about the sink.....I didn't think of that and you are so right. Originally (lol), I wanted a white fireclay farm sink but was concerned about cleaning it (I have a reg. white cast iron now). Seems like I constantly need to use a bleach cleaner and we are trying to be as chemical free as we can.

lightlystarched, what a great idea for the kids! Very sneaky, lol. I love Dr. Bronner's.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Feel free to keep them coming. I LOVE seeing your beautiful soapstone!

Dawn

I have Green Mountain Original PA from Garden State Soapstone. It is definitely a harder variety of soapstone. Since I've had it installed and uncovered for less than a month in a kitchen that is still not yet "in use," I haven't had any experiences as yet with the scratches and dings that are likely to come with daily living. I guess you would also say that I'm in the frequent oiling stage (about once a week). But I don't mind! Honestly, it's always so exciting to see how the stone's appearance changes with oiling. Especially in the case of my particular stone. It has the most unusual coloring and vein pattern that is less frequently seen in soapstone. While primarily black when oiled (dark gray when not), there are hints of caramel throughout and then there are the occasional bold and dramatic displays of multi-colored veining such as this:
{{!gwi}}

and this. . {{!gwi}}

We have Santa Rita, it is a softer stone, and when unoiled it is speckled. When oiled the speckles mostly fade, but when light hits it, it sort of sparkles. It wasn't me who wrote about sparkly soapstone though.
I love my soapstone, but I have 2 small kids who have put many dings in it. The dings are not as noticable now, b/c I used a black sharpie on them (as suggested by another GW member). At first I found the oiling to be a huge chore. Santa Rita fades to gray quicker than other varieties. But I have had them now since Oct. 2007, and the need to oil has significantly decreased, however, they do still fade to gray if I let too much time pass. I also must confess that watermarks drive me NUTS!! So be prepared. Also, when I have company, there is almost alway a new ding, from someone who is not familiar with how soft soapstone is and they bang things around on my island.
I rarely see any negative remarks on this forum about soapstone, I just wanted to warn you about some of the negatives. I found this forum AFTER my soapstone was already in, and probably would have bought it because of how everyone on here RAVES about it. What drew me to soapstone, was that I wanted something different, and my house is 100 years old and I thought it would fit better in the older house. I truly do love it, but I was a little unprepared for some of the drawbacks I mentioned.

Also, I have a fireclay main sink, AND a soapstone prep sink on my island. I have to say, I really love the prep sink, I am not sure what variety it is, but it seems much harder than my counters. However, I really love my fireclay sink, it's one of my favorite things in my kitchen.

Sorry this was so long.

marthavila, that is some sexy soapstone! Can't wait to see your final pix. What glimpse of the kitchen we can see is looking good. Some other beautiful kitchens here too.

mamabirrd, we LOVE our soapstone counters and sink. Not quite sure of the variety, but definitely hardy. No kids, so we don't have wear and tear issues, but we are heavy users of the kitchen. I have a soapstone sink, and I don't bother oiling it - looks just fine and we love that sink! In the pic below it's oiled after the install. DH laughs about how much I love oiling our ss - definitely can be therapeutic after a tough day :-)

Eliz

What's this about watermarks? If the stone is oiled they don't show do they?

mama and reshal, the attached thread gives some good examples of maintenance of soapstone. Particularly helpful to link to the thread embedded here from bayareafrancy re soapstone patina.

I think it's important to reiterate that I love my ss, don't find it high maintenance *at all* and would gladly recommend it to others. There is always the other side of the coin, though, so it's great to be able to read about the full spectrum of experience. Also do a search on the Kitchen forum for trailrunner - she has posted pix in several threads of her unoiled ss and it is beautiful.

HTH,
Eliz

Here is a link that might be useful: Help with maintaining soapstone