Soapstone?

How about quartzite? It is a natural, not a man made stone. It is harder than granite.

I found this on another forum:

Some call Pietra di Cardoso sandstone. Some call it soapstone. Some call it schist.

It's none of the above.

Pietra di Cardoso is a unique stone from the village of Cardoso (near Carrara), Italy. There are only two small quarries of the stuff, one across the street (literally) from the other. One quarry cuts the stone along its grain (and that is what some call soapstone). The other quarry cuts it against its grain (and therefore it looks more like sandstone).
The fact in the matter is that Pietra di Cardoso is Calcareus Phillyte, and you do not want that stuff in your kitchen, unless, of course, you use your countertop exclusively as the holder of the telephone you make reservations or order take-outs with!

That stone is sensitive to acidic substances and will get etched like marble.

On the curious side of the whole matter, in Italy they use Pietra di Cardoso exclusively to pave sidewalks and clad buildings, due to the fact that's a tough stone. Only the exclusive importer for the USA decided that it would be a "good bet" (and much more profitable, since Pietra di Cardoso is quite cheap at the origin) to sell it as material for kitchen countertops...

For the intents and purposes of a kitchen countertop, there's no comparaison between Pietra di Cardoso and soapstone. The latter has a huge advantage!!

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Ciao and good luck,
Maurizio Bertoli

Trainer-in-chief for the International Training Centers for the Stoneindustry (ITCS)

MB Stone Care - "education before any sale!"

Here is a link that might be useful: FindStone Forum

We looked at a quartzite, which looks very similar to mustbnuts photo above, they called luce di luna. We, too, had been told it was harder than granite. We thought, "cool, looks like marble, but won't etch." But a local stoneyard said it would etch and scratch. They took a sample of granite and one of the quartzite and scraped them each with a knife. The quartzite scratched, the granite did not. They told us that, like granites, stones called quartzites have variations in composition. Moral of the story, test anything you are considering.

remodelfla: I know some people absolutely LOVE the look and feel of soapstone. Obviously, there are pros and cons. Based on our lifestyle, I think we'll have to pass on it. But I've heard of several people going with HONED Virginia Mist when they want the look of soapstone, but have to stick with granite for one reason or another.

mustbnuts: we looked at some quartzite slabs at the stone yard, but nothing really jumped out at us. I've heard mixed opinions about using quartzite for kitchen countertops. One expert says "Simply put, quartzite does not belong in a kitchen". I don't know what he bases that opinion on...

And after our experience with Pietra di Cardoso (which many "experts" claim doesn't etch), I'll echo petlady1's comment that there's no substitute for testing yourself. Any reputable stone yard should be willing to apply a sealer to a sample and you can throw all kinds of stuff at it (I personally went with lemon juice, vegetable oil and spaghetti sauce).

Quartzites are a metamorphic rock that is mostly quartz, but there are different ways that can occur and therefore different kinds of quartzite. Some are very good in the kitchen and some are not. Here is a little of what Encyclopedia Britannica says about quartzite:

quartzite
sandstone that has been converted into a solid quartz rock. Unlike sandstones, quartzites are free from pores and have a smooth fracture; when struck, they break through, not around, the sand grains, producing a smooth surface instead of a rough and granular one. Conversion of sandstone to quartzite may be accomplished by precipitation of silica from interstitial waters below the Earth's surface; these rocks are called orthoquartzites, whereas those produced by recrystallization under high temperatures and pressures are metaquartzites.

Quartzites are all mostly made of quartz, but because of the different ways they form they have different characteristics. Some have layers of mica and act more like slates - presumably these wouldn't be good for kitchen counters.

We have quartzite (azul do mar) in our kitchen and have been very pleased with it. We did test a sample of the material before we decided. This quartzite is very hard and low porosity.

I have Pietra di Cardoso in my kitchen and it does etch. So does the Carrera marble I have in my bathroom.
In the kitchen I have one very faint ring from a glass of lemonade left overnight. It happened less than 2 weeks after we moved in. Oh well. No one but me would ever notice it. I certainly cannot feel it and it only shows up when the light hits it just right. I am pretty careful not to leave things out on the counter to prevent further etching. I just treat it the same way I treat my marble. I don't regret choosing it at all.

Rob, one approach is to do what the Italians have been doing for centuries -- let it etch. I have watched the founder of La Varenne cooking school dump yeast and dough makings directly on to the countertop to make her dough, then sniff that mixing bowls are a British/American invention. There was a thread on marble countertops (to etch or not to etch) a few weeks before I took that cooking class, which I only understood after taking the class.

I'm attaching a link to info on granites (which, of course, I obtained from this forum). According to that, JM aka VM granite has water absorption of 0.1 to 0.15%. My granite, azul macaubas, has 0.1% (according to this table), and I tested it with pure lemon juice, since my kids also drink lemonade 24/7 -- without a problem. So that's another approach.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: World's Most Popular Granites

pietra di cardoso is a wonderful stone I love it! the grey is soo unique and very famous.. I'm from the same region... if you like that color.. but you want a stronger stone I suggest pietra di matraia but is coming from only a small place and I'm not sure if we can find here in USA. Another one very similar but usually lighter in color is the pietra serena, but again I'm not sure if is available in USA.

I've got pietra cardosa in my new kitchen and love it. I didn't know it could etch, but happily it hasn't yet. There's some etching on my island top, which is marble. I think the pietra is a beautiful stone, with or w/out etching. I just read another thread with pix of someone's (mamadadandpaige?) beautiful new kitchen, with a great looking granite that you might like. I think it's called honed ocean green granite? I've never seen it in person but in the pix it has that soapstone/pietra look. Good luck with your search.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. "mamadadapaige" used the honed Ocean Green granite that oldhometara mentioned. It really looks nice. There does seem to be some confusion as to whether it's actually a granite (someone suggested it might be a marble).

The variety of natural stones is amazing. When we first started thinking about a renovation, we figured we'd go with Silestone or Caeserstone because we didn't want the same old granite that you always see in new homes. But our first trip to a stone yard really opened our eyes to the possibilities. I'm pretty sure we're going with a honed finish on whatever we choose. Not quite so resilient as a polished finish, but we love the look and feel.