The patina discussed is the fine scratches and dings you may get depending on the variety of soapstone. Yes, they can be sanded and oiled out.

Soapstone will not stain or etch. Here's a link to a thread where I demonstrated a stain&etch test of my soapstone counters.

If your DH is set against soapstone, there are several lookalike granites like jet mist which he might prefer. They won't have the silky feel of soapstone, but they strike the right look.

It is true you absolutely don't need to worry about hot pots or staining or etching. Completely and totally not a problem. The worst it can possibly do is remove a little oil, and that's replaced in seconds -- you would be more annoyed about removing the dried-on tomato sauce than have a moment's worry about any other problem.

They used to use it as worktops in chemistry labs because if you spilled hydrochloric acid or knocked over a bunsen burner, it wasn't affected.

I love my soapstone, but you have to love it for what it is, not for what you hope it will be.

Those WEIRD watermarks on rubyfigs counter were because it was not soapstone.That's the one you were talking about, right? But depending on the mineral content of your water, or how much soap you splash around, you will probably take a little oil off the counter when you do the dishes. Also, anything with rubber feet, like a blender, pulls the oil off. But you can dab a little back with an oily rag.

And you can sand and oil scratches out, but if you expect a glossy black showroom surface every day, you're going to be disappointed. It's not going to be like having granite.
And a deep chip would be difficult and awkward to sand out.

It's more like having wood -- it has history and it looks a little different every day. You just have to get used to it. People who like soapstone like it BECAUSE of its patina, BECAUSE of its flaws, its history. It's not something we try to sand out and get rid of and want to make "like new". I'm not standing around beating it with a chain, but I don't feel inhibited using it at all for fear I'll hurt it.

The patina is the patina, and it is the all-over accumulation of scratches and chips. How much it SHOWS is a function of how much you oil it.

As have said before, the stone is the stone. Whether it is right for you is more about your lifestyle. For example, if all your clothes are easycare, if you iron your jeans, you get satisfaction when everything looks brand new and spotless all the time, and you know you will want to keep your counters from getting scratched, then the jet mist/virginia mist suggestion is worth checking out.

If, on the other hand, you like old furniture and things that have a "lived-in look" and you can live with keeping an oily rag under the sink that you swipe over trouble spots as they crop up in between full oilings, then you can probably make it work.

So, look around and give it some thought.

Good luck with your decision!

Okay I totally have to laugh about the ironing of my jeans. Never would do it. I'm sure my DH would love if I would iron his work clothes though. Things have to be really wrinkled to get an iron. :)

I absolutely know that I don't want shiny granite. Much prefer the more "casual" look. Although I have seen soapstone look formal...it also seems to have a down to earth feeling that I just can't find in anything else.

I did consider Jet Mist and after having trouble finding it - I was finally able to locate a place that had it. But the pieces around here are coming out much more gray and with lots and lots of white speckles. I really prefer more of the veined look.

DH would be into a natural look and likes soapstone. He is afraid how black will look on the counters in our particular kitchen. (I am the crazy person who a while back painted black on my counters to see if it looked good.) But black paint on formica isn't helping to convince him. And then we had one KD who said "go soapstone" and one KD who said "no soapstone". So enough with the KDs - I'm going to make up my own mind.

So patina, if I'm understanding right - is dings, scratches that sometimes are worth sanding out and sometimes not worth it. The dings and scratches tell the history of the counter. I can handle that because my perimeter cabinets have a history and they are certainly telling where the child locks have been and the smudgy 3 year old fingers. :)

It depends on the type, but it generally isn't that black, except after you oil it.

The showrooms keep their counters very "omigod!" oiled, but they turn a softer gray in couple of days.

(I oiled mine a few days ago, and the darkness was jarring! I have Minas.)

Get samples of whatever your real choices are, oil them a few times and see the true colors. You can even try scratching and chipping a little -- I bet the kiddo can help. See if you think you can live with it.

Good luck! (And keep laughing at that iron.)

I almost didn't get soapstone because of Bayareafrancey's water ring problems. I felt confident after reading the many posts from those who didn't get water rings and I went for it. Guess what? I get water rings and water spots and I don't like it one bit. Pluckmama had the same problem with her soapstone. She had hers sanded to 80 grit and switched to Dorado's dry wax. Mine are sanded to 100 grit and I just got the dry wax yesterday but haven't used it yet. My counters are genuine soapstone. I don't know why water takes the oil off some stones and not others. I would suggest you test whichever stone you choose.

There is a big difference between patina and water rings, whether you iron your jeans or not. I like my counters to look clean. Scratches and dings aren"t a problem but spots and rings are. I'm hoping I find a solution once I'm using the kitchen full time, but I wish I'd tested the particular slab I chose because I'd have kept looking if I'd known I was going to have this problem.

What growlery said is very true, those weird marks on my counter were because it was not soapstone (and that stone [still a mystery] is finally out of my kitchen. It is being replaced with Soapstone tomorrow :) ).

My view of the color of soapstone: The color is similar to a "black" mixed from a paint palette (versus one that comes from a tube). With little bits of green, black, grey and various other colors and tones within a slab, the "black" is deep and rich. It has moods, and it develops over time. It will wear it's history and you will leave a "footprint". This quality of soapstone is rather unique, and I think one of many reasons it has so many fans, including me.

Good luck (and definitely get your hands on a sample. It really helped us to decide if it was right).

Well, I ashamed to say this, but I did have a small piece of soapstone from a supplier and had not yet done anything to it because I couldn't find our mineral oil. (Still in a box because we just moved 3 months ago.) So tonight I went down to the formidable basement and dug until I found the mineral oil.

And guess what?! water marks!!

I oiled and tried water right away (no patience here)...and water marks. So then I thought that I didn't give the oil time to settle or something.

So I oiled and waited 3 hours. Put down a glass of water that had some on the bottom and.... water marks!!

It isn't extremely obvious, but kind of noticeable.

I definitely don't mind dings and scratches. And even though I don't iron, I don't think I want water marks.

So I suppose I need to find another stone. This was the Green Mountain soapstone original.

This is definitely harder than I thought!

What kind of water marks are you talking about? Can you wipe the mark up with a cloth or is it more serious than that, like rings that won't wash out with a little soap and water? My soapstone sample has 'marks' after I leave a glass of anything on it, but one wipe and it's gone...I think it's similar to Julia soapstone, but there isn't enough around here that people actually have labels for the type, so I'm not sure.

Donka, the rings and spots are from the oil being lifted from the stone and are very noticable. So far, I haven't read any explanations for why this happens on some soapstone varieties and not others. The rings disappear with oiling so it's not the end of the world; I just didn't expect to have to pull out the oil rag everyday to keep the counters looking clean.

Repainting, I'm hoping that the older and darker my counters get, the less I'll have this problem. Don't know how Francey is making out these days but her stone may have improved. Is it possible for you to try a different variety of soapstone?

I have a theory about the watermark issue, but I have yet to test it (I will though): I think it has to do with the quality of the oil. If the oil is sitting in top of the stone (and it has to, because Soapstone is inert), the mix of oil and water, and the "lifting" of the oil is what causes the watermarks. So, if the oil is more repellent (harder), then this would be less of an issue (as in the mineral oil/beeswax combo, or the drywax which contains carnuba). Since carnauba is the hardest known wax (and it is a natural product used for, among other things, coating candy and as part of waxes made for cars and surfboards), I think mixing it with a mineral oil might give a more durable wax coating that won't react as much to water marks....stay tuned.

Okay Rubyfig - I think that you might be on to something about the oil and water. As I have oiled my soapstone sample more, the water marks are actually less obvious. It could have been because it was the first oiling.

Here is another question - when soapstone is first installed does it take a while for the oil be look even on the surface? Perhaps that is some of the uneven-ness I'm seeing.

Overall, I'm utterly confused about my countertop decision. I'm still considering honed granite or leathered black granite. However, if I go this way I will miss the beauty of the soapstone veins.

But I really am nervous about water rings and noticeable spots on the surface. I think I must just need to get into a house that has soapstone so that I can really see what a lived in piece looks like.

So I'm still confused. I must be as dense as soapstone or something like that...

LOL, well, it is my kitchen now. It is uneven in the way the oil "sits", but today (the 2nd oiling) seemed a little more even than yesterday's 1st oiling. I hope it will even out a bit, but I really don't know (even the texture varies on mine as the viening and color changes). Perhaps someone who has had them for a while would care to comment?

It will eventually even out with oilings. I prefer the Dorado Dry Wax over the mineral oil as it lasts longer. The sink area is the area that has the most water and soap so it cuts through the oil/wax as time goes on and leaves marks or rings. The oil/wax should take the rings away, but if the area is getting wet, you will have to reapply much more frequently to avoid the rings/marks.

The texture should be pretty smooth and uniform as you run your hand over the surface. In areas with a lot of veining it may feel smoother, but all in all it should feel consistent. If you are noticing too much texture variance you might want to call your fabricator back to resand the surface.

Okay so perhaps some of the uneven parts of my samples are in doing the initial oils. Rubyfig, I hope your SS starts to even out. I saw your post with your counters and they really are stunning. I'm sure you will love them.

I have done a bunch of water tests, and I do see rings on my samples. (I have 2 samples from 2 different places.) They are not the light gray like I have seen in previous pictures, but you can still see a ring.

So I take it that this is not common? I just can't figure out why both samples would do this. They are definitely different stones, but both show where a glass has been. Granted they show this on an angle. If I look straight down, they do not show much.

Am I overly analyzing what I am seeing?

I'm probably in the minority here, but I rarely oil my SS. We've had it for three years and I think I might have oiled it three times. It's just too much trouble to take everything off the counters! I love the un-oiled look, and I never have to deal with water spots or any other kind of marks. I did notice that the area around the sink was the first to lose the oiled look the few times I oiled them.

Just a suggestion that if you love the stone, consider leaving it unoiled!

Good luck with your decision...

Cintijen...Just wondering, how does the area around your stove/range top look? As a new soapstone countertop owner, I've toyed with the idea of letting it go unoiled, but have concerns about the grease spots and splatters that are an inevitable part of cooking. I like the unoiled soft gray look just as much as the darker oiled version, and in fact the unoiled look is what originally drew me to soapstone. I put soapstone in two bathrooms and do not plan to oil it, but then, I don't cook in there!

Coffeehaus: I find that I get lots of oil marks in my cook and prep zones when the stone isn't oiled. If you're interested in leaving you counter unoiled, Bucks County Soapstone sells a sealer that keeps the stone gray and it really works. It also doesn't change to look or feel of the stone.

coffeehaus,

The area around my cooktop does get spots and splatters, but I just wipe it down with whatever cleaner I have on hand and they go away. That was one of the reasons I decided not oil... I found that any type of cleaner lifted the oil and I am too lazy to oil on a regular basis!

hope that helps,
cintijen

Cintijen,
What kind of soapstone do you have? When mine was unoiled, the splatters did not go away, but remained darkened even after I wiped the counter down with cleaner.
I tried different ones and went back to oiling. I mentioned that sealer to my fabricator and he said it could not work on soapstone due to the dense porous nature of the
stone and the inability of the sealer to penetrate the stone. If you have tried it and it works that is a great option and I would love to hear more about it.

My stone is 2 years old now. It's Alberene Church Hill type, a very very hard and dark variety. I oiled it once at the beginning. I quickly removed the oil because of the footprints and the fact that cleaning with the sponge with a little residual detergent removed the oil; So I've been oil-free. I clean with a degreaser Simple green. It totally removes the cooking oil spatters and the spot-cleaned areas do not stand out from the rest. My stone darkened to near-blackness within 9 months time.

Pluckymama: you should give Bucks County Soapstone a call about whatever it is that they use to treat the stone to keep in gray. They gave me large piece and we treated one side of it. I oiled the stone several times and the gray side stayed gray. My daughter now uses it as a trivet for her flat iron and the light side is still light. The stone was Black Venata.

Casey: I'm fascinated that your stone uniformly darkened in less than a year. When I was at an appliance store with a live kitchen, the owner there told me he nevered oiled the soapstone counter he had there and it looked great; not near black but quite dark and uniform. Your counters look great! Could you tell me what you used to remove the oil?

Simple Green degreaser removed the mineral oil, and I use it for upkeep because it emulsifies cooking oil.
Casey

Thanks, Casey.

If you're still confused about patina, fine sterling sliver flatware gets a patine, also - tiny scratches that you don't really see as a scratch, but it adds up to a look unlike brand new sterling - a rich patina.