My brother-in-law had honed AB installed at the same time my soapstone was installed--almost two years ago. He just asked me if I had any stains on my soapstone, as he has three in his honed AB he can't get out. Asked me for suggestions--I told him to look on here under "poultice," since I do remember some ideas for getting stains out.

Haven't seen the so-called "stains" with my own eyes, so I can't really vouch for what they look like or were caused by.

Good luck!
Sarah

Thanks Sarah,
If your b-i-l is getting true stains and having to research poultices, then maybe this isn't the countertop for me. Do you know if he has a sealer/enhancer on his stone? I wonder if that might be reacting to a spill.

Does anyone know if unsealed honed AB is less fussy than sealed?

I went back and forth for ages on this one. I really love the look of both honed AB and soapstone, but was scared off by the stories I read here. I decided on Absolute Black with a leathered finish. I actually like the organic feel of the textured stone and the benefit of the matte finish. I believe that it's a better option in terms of staining, but it will remain to be seen, I guess. We had the template done yesterday and installation should happen sometime next week.

Good luck with your decision!
claire

I'm one of the honed AB-lovers here :) We've had it for a year, and I really, really like it. It definitely doesn't stain and I put hot pots and pans directly on it. To clean it, I just use method granite cleaner - a quick spray at the end of the day and a wipe with a paper towel and it looks gorgeous. If something spills on it, the spill is not invisible - you do need to clean it off, not because it will stain, but because you have spilled something on your counter. Oil will leave a streak that you wipe up. Our AB isn't sealed. I think you probably could oil it like soapstone for the reason you described. I love it.

Thank you so much, November. It's great to hear something positive about this stone. I love the way it looks and I'm glad to hear that you find it easy to live with. I need a low-maintenance stone, something that I can put hot pans on and something that won't stain. I've done everything I can think of to my sample and it has cleaned up perfectly every time. I will probably order my slab this weekend.

We have honed AB - about 9 months now- and I have to say, it is not all that I had hoped. I find that it does show streaks, water drops- just everything- not sure I would call it low maintenance. I do love the look of a dark, matte finish, and that I don't need a trivet for hot pans. It doesn't stain, exactly, but the water rings from glasses or anything left on the counter leaves a mark.It also seems to get a greasy looking (soap?)film when wiping down with a sponge. I so wish I had gone with the soapstone-I admit I was swayed by the price difference, and thought I could get the same "look" for less. I should have known that, for me, there is just no substitute, and AB is a distant second. You might want to get a soapstone sample-or any other material you're considering- before you make your final decision. Good luck!

I think one of the problems with AB is the different ways we describe "low maintenance." For me, it's low maintenance because I don't have to baby it at all - hot pots, spills, etc. It's "high maintenance" in that I have to wipe it down, but wouldn't I be wiping it every day anyway? I like to think I would...who knows... I agree that soapstone has the same characteristics - I wanted something very quiet, with no movement at all, so soapstone wasn't for me, although it's gorgeous. Also, it was more expensive.

I think for some people AB is "high maintenance" because it doesn't look perfect the way a high-movement granite would look perfect by hiding whatever was on it. Many single-color surfaces probably have this characteristic. Dark single-color surfaces (I'm now thinking of my bedroom carpet) show light-colored debris. In the kitchen, that means crumbs (in the bedroom, it's lint!) I think you have to ask yourself what maintenance you're willing to do - can you spray and wipe it once a day? How important is it that it look pristine all of the time?

I will also say that when we first got our honed AB, it seemed to have some kind of treatment on it that DID show every fingerprint, and it really freaked us out for the first week. After a week of wiping and wiping and wiping it down, it mellowed out. Now it doesn't show fingerprints (unless they're covered with oil/flour/whatever).

I know I sound like some kind of AB groupie - I'm not. It's obviously not for everyone, like marble, or soapstone. But for us, it's been great. My kitchen is in the FKB, by the way, if you want to see some AB in action.

Here is a link that might be useful: november's kitchen

elfmom, just ftr, if you are drawn to the honed AB granite because of its solid black matte finish, there are soapstones that are equally quiet. My python soapstone from M. Tex is solid black when oiled with absolutely no veining at all. And M. Tex is located in Hackensack, NJ, so not that far from Long Island. Might be worth a trip, just to see soapstone up close.

I think honed AB is beautiful, too. One of my most favorite kitchens here is NorCalNancy's - she has a honed AB, too (or was it the leathered thing? don't recall). Anyhow, here is the link to her kitchen in the FKB.

November gave a very astute answer when she said that it depends on your definition of "low maintenance". Personally, I don't want to not see the dirt on the counters; I want there not to be dirt on the counters. I used to have not just AB but Polished AB at home. I now have another black granite called "blue in the night" that has a bit more glam by way of small cobalt blue irridescent flecks that catch your eye when the geometry is right and wink out when it isn't. Because of this action, I find that it hides some of the spots that may be on the counters. With the AB, if there are flecks of something on the counter, you see it plainly and you wipe it up. While that is still largely true, since mine does obscure some of the grime so I have to wipe; then eye the counter from different perspectives to see if there is something, wipe that up; then eye it from a differnt angle to see if I missed an area ... it is more work.

Anyhow, I agree with you. AB is very dense - I think this is the densest stone there is. It just isn't going to soak anything to stain - implausible. That said, I'm sure that deposits will appear on it. A good miracle cloth treatment and some stone cleaner will take care of it.

BTW, to the person with the soap film on the granite - no granite will stand up to a soap treatment. They'll all get a bit greasy/soapy looking. Try cleaning with the stone cleaner to get it wiped away and then just miracle cloth it with clean water. While I think personally that honed AB is spectacular, much more so than soapstone; soapstone wouldn't have been able to take the soap treatment either. No stone that doesn't absorb can.

November, it's amazing how similar our tastes are. Your kitchen is almost exactly how I envisioned mine, right down to the hardware. The biggest difference is that I'm going with a stained island. Yours is beautiful!

Stephrs, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your AB. Is it sealed or treated in some way? Maybe that is the problem.

Just for kicks, I'm going to get an estimate on soapstone from M. Tex. I have no idea what to expect on pricing. 50% more? Double?

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll let you know what I decide.

Thanks, elfmom :) We've been really happy with how it looks and how it turned out. I think you'll be happy with a stained island - ours is just oiled, and sometimes I think a harder finish would be nice. I'll look forward to pics of yours!

Elfmom,

We have the same dilema. Our first choice is one of the black soapstones but our local fabricator is having trouble finding them at a decent price.

So now it's between honed and leathered absolute black. I used to have a link with a great description of the different finishes but can't seem to find it now.

This thread prompted me to do another search and I found some information. It sounds like leathered is similar to honed but it (leathered) fills the pores making it a more durable finish.

I'm not sure if this really matters in a dense granite like AB but it's worth looking into and discussing with your local fabricator.

We are putting in a 20K BTU wok burner so we really need something that can deal with oil splatter. I'll look into this some more and try to post back. In the meantime read these two links. Sorry, you'll have to cut and paste them into your browser.

http://blog.percocomarble.com/tag/granite/

http://www.percocomarble.com/finishes.php

elfmom I don't know what the price difference will be with soapstone from M Tex vs honed granite because we never went so far as to get a price on the granite...I fell in love with the soapstone and that was that. There are different "levels" of soapstone at M Tex just like different levels of granite. The one I chose is in the highest price range (wouldn't you just know it) but they were having a 20% off sale when I bought it in December - you can see if maybe they are still running the promotion. Good luck!