Attached article might be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Countertop Options

All I can say is I hope so.....because I'm stuck on the stuff and your family sounds like mine only I've got one more. We are/were planning on going the DIY route but the timing/anticipated cost isn't working out as well as I expected. So this weekend we hit the granite yards again in hopes of finding a couple options and get some quotes. Only I couldn't find any granites I loved but found a couple soapstones that would work. We'll be doing soapstone one way or another.

Based on what you've written I think you would love the look.

I've had mine for about six months and IMO, I think a lot of the care and tending depends on what appearance you want to maintain.

I gave mine a couple massages with the beeswax/oil mixture when I first had them installed. Then I let them fade to medium grey through most of the winter. Last month on a dreary day I felt like a change and oiled them up again. I love how they look at every stage.

If you're a person who will not be happy unless they're always uniform and near black, they may not be the best choice for you. If you like the subtle changes in the stone that come through between oilings, then maybe they are. I happen to think it's part of the appeal of real, over fabricated, stone to not have uniformity on the entire surface.

If you take a look on the FKB, you will note that I have lots of SS - a double level island as well as countertops. I cannot afford the time to be a slave to all that stone! Mine is a busy kitchen and I feel that the SS is a beautiful, well functioning surface for me. I think they are far easier to keep up than a shiny dark finish. They never show a fingerprint, and slabs with some movement don't showcase every stray crumb.

Bottom line, you have to be really honest with yourself about how pristine you want them looking on the day-to-day to determine whether or not they're for you.

Hope this helps!

As a 3 year soapstone veteran, I have issues with the article olympiceagle posted (not with you, oe, but the article)

It states that soapstone is 'somewhat' stain resistant. What BS. It is completely stain resistant.

Sorry for my earthy mouth this morning, but where do these authors get these crazy ideas about soapstone?

Maintenance? I oil mine once every 4-5 months, IF I think about it. It takes 10 minutes, max (take everything off counters, swipe it down, wipe off and replace) - I have a large kitchen. Never need to seal. No fingerprints. What maintenance are they talking about?

And 'it cracks'? Well, if you took a ball-peen hammer to one of the veins and hit it just right, it would probably crack, as would any of the veined granites.

Sorry to vent- it's great stuff- not for everyone nor every look, but it gets some slanderous press. Well, that would be libelous. Whatever.

You will get far more accurate information on this forum than you will in kitchen magazines, which pander to advertisers and apparently don't double-check facts.

Good luck!

"Both gross and cool."

You might just have the spirit!

As I have said before, it's less about the surface than your reaction to it.

For example, no one who irons their jeans and towels is going to be happy with it.

Are your 3-year old jeans and shoes ready for the trash or just getting good?

Do you think your kids are adorable with their messy hair and juice moustaches in the morning, or do you itch to spiff them up?

Do you let dishes sit in the sink a little, or do you think that's the first step in the Decline of Civilization?

If you pick the more relaxed answers, soapstone's inevitable chips, scratches and patina will not trouble you.

On the other hand, if you keep a ton of stuff out on your counters, as many families do, picking it all up to oil may be a pain (unless you keep it on big trays or something).

I have to say, a scratch/chip on soapstone would bother me less than a scratch/chip on granite, as it will soon have friends to blend in with!

Seriously, track down a sample of Cambrian black antique, which is what I have. Nordic black looks more soapstone-like, but I think Cambrian black's more "mottled" appearance hides stuff better. (We are also a messy household.) The antique finish gives it a pretty matte look than polished (it's sort of waxy, actually), from a distance it looks evenly black, and it's pretty much bullet-proof. You might want to just get a sample and a sample of soapstone and maybe Nordic black as well, and see how they hold up compared to that AB honed.

Thanks, all, for your input.

growlery, you made me laugh! I am definitely the extreme casual end of that spectrum. I know people who iron their sheets, but do people actually iron towels? Really? Sheesh!

I suspect my neighbors in our kinda high end neighborhood must hate me, because we leave toys out, my kids go around barefoot and play in the mud, and they never ever have matching $90 outfits. (I'm not kidding!) I grew up on a farm and then in a small town, so I think I'm still a bit too country for my high end neighborhood; LOL. But we live hard and have fun and don't mind the mess around here.

Soapstone, here I come!!! I'm getting a sample as soon as I can find out where to get this stuff in Kansas.

Hest88, I'm also going to pick up Cambrian black, thanks.

Pecanpie, thanks for the skinny on living with the stuff. 3 yrs is long enough for the bloom to have come off the rose if it were gonna. Can you post pics of how your soapstone looks on a daily basis?

AMCK, I checked out your kitchen on the FKB and it looks beautiful! Nice lake house!

OE, thanks for the article link. There is so much information out there about soapstone that I've almost drowned in it, so I appreciate the link to one source.

Anita

Gee, I just re-read my post and it sounds like I wrote it drunk! (That's what happens when I insert edits and try to type too quickly!)

hest, it's 5 o'clock somewhere...

Anita, email me privately and I'll send you the only picture I have of the soapstone.

We had one of the harder varieties of SS put in our last house 5 years ago. A month later I got pregnant with twins and, unfortunately, we had to buy a bigger house so I didnÂt get to use it for long. But, the counters only required an oiling before the open house to look beautiful. We brought some scraps to the new house and one has been used as a lazy susan for the table and a couple sit on either side of the stove. They still look great with NO sanding and I only recently oiled them again when I was comparing my new samples.

Mine is a pretty uniform black with a few green veins or "quartz" looking spots and it never faded to gray after the first couple oilings. I think the only reason I do it now is to make the green pop more. :) We are busy, sloppy, clumsy people and I couldnÂt imagine a counter other than laminate (because it could be replaced cheaply) working so well for us.

That said, I like the matte, lived in look and try to avoid chemicals so, while I do love some of the granites, sealers scare me and figuring out which ones required it to avoid going from lived in to permanently damaged was more than my brain cells could handle. If you like the dark gray/black/sometimes green or blue look and would be happy with a counter that forgives your flaws as much as you forgive itÂs "flaws", soapstone is fabulous.

backinthesaddle-- Finally, I read of someone else who is afraid of sealers! I've tried to get more information on them to see what they're made of, but it's all Greek to me. Nobody seems to want to address this issue, so I'm dismissing granite.

pecanpie-- Oh, please can we see your granite? I feast my eyes on any I can find since we're not able to think about starting our project yet.

now YOU made me laugh. I'm glad I started this thread for the entertainment value alone! I didn't get that impression but you sound like you'd be fun drunk :)

Anita