the thread linked below is well worth reading, pics from ss owners that are living with the countertops; it's a recent one and it's full of real life experiences from this forum soapstone owners.

Here is a link that might be useful: ss patina pictures

I have polished granite countertops/island in my home and soapstone at our lake cottage. I'm happy with both.

But, if I had to choose one, it would be soapstone. I've used it for prep, rolling pastry and serving on my island for months now, and I really love it as a work and serving surface.

My reasons are mostly subjective. Even though it's a stone surface, like granite, the feel is softer and warmer - not the actual temperature, but the tactile quality. I also think the non-glossy aspect is more "me."

I find it much easier to maintain in day-to-day use. When the sun hits my granite my eye is drawn to any streaks on the polished surface. Not so on the matte finish of the soapstone - a quick wipedown with a soapy cloth, then a rinse wipe with a wrung out cloth is all it takes. I've only coated it with beeswax/min.oil paste 3 times in the year it's been installed. One ding from a dropped glass is all I've suffered, and DH rubbed that out with fine grit sandpaper.

I love it. No regrets at all.

I love my soapstone....

But.....

I DO wish I had stayed with a "traditional" soapstone, and had not gone with one of those newfangled varieties that hit the market. It seems that there used to be just a couple varieties of soapstone, and they behaved pretty much the same. But that was boring, and now there are lots of varieties of "soapstone" out there, and they don't necessarily behave the same. I was looking for something a little different in soapstone land, and I regret my particular choice, which gets unsightly water rings all over it. It never occurred to me to test for water marks on a countertop. Luckily, most soapstone does NOT seem to do this.

Oh, how it pains me to say anything bad about my soapstone though. I lovelovelove the characteristics of soapstone in general.

Be sure to test your samples, to see if they behave the way you want them to.

My soapstone is just like my children: I love it, warts and all, but I'd sure appreciate it, if it would behave the way I want it to!

:-)

francy

We LOVE our Ice Flower soapstone...which we have now had for over 3 years. It has a few dings here and there, but they just blend in. No matter what gets on it, its gone in a swipe...no worries about fissures cracking from hot pans...and, best of all, you don't see it EVERYWHERE!! It always looks great.

I have not oiled it since June (Bucks County SS Mineral Oil only) and it still quite dark. These days, I just oil it to give it a nice soft matte glow when guests are expected.

We would do it again in a heartbeat..but if we had little ones, IMO best bet is choose a variety that is a bit more ding resitant, such as Original Green Mountain...

Hmmmm. This one is hard for me. When I got the soapstone originally I wanted a dark matte surface. My other option was Paperstone. I have a darker harder variety, my fabricator called it "Brazilian Eyes", and once it was installed it was too dark for my kitchen. So now I don't oil it and keep it natural which requires a little more diligence. It is still very dark. I've always had light counters and I wasn't prepared for the darkness. It also gets water rings. So at any given time, my counter probably has a light ring or two, and some grease splotches. Probably not a good choice if that bothers you. Oiled, my counter may behave differently, I don't know.

I like it, but for the $$$, I'm not sure I would pick it again. I was quoted $115 a square foot, but I was able to negotiate down to $100 as we were able to get away with one slab and a remnant, instead of 2 slabs.

I absolutely love my Green Mountain Original. No water rings, no dings. Hardly ever have to oil it. Would get it again in a heartbeat. My light walls and creamy white cabs offset the darkness.

I have GM Original too. I love it. My slab was not perfect as they were sent w/o my inspection. That was my oversight though. As to how they wear , they are perfect as has already been said. A few dings scratches etc. I never oil at all. They are 2 years old and they are darker in the places that I roll out dough and knead bread. I love the way they change....very organic.

Things thaw FAST on the stone, a great asset. Nothing sticks so less flour to knead and roll dough. No rings etc or grease marks. Pretty much a perfect surface.

If I do it again I will get Alberene stone ( see the other thread on this) as it is quarried in the USA !!!

We've been using our Beleza counters for about 2 months and they are wonderful. We haven't oiled our counters and they're a dark gray with a lot of greenish undertones and some white veining. They're very hard and all I've noticed are a few very minor scratches but no dings.

I had speckledy ugly laminate before and its only redeeming quality was that it hid all crumbs and spills. Those things show up more on the soapstone but wipe up with a damp sponge unless the spill is sticky or very oily and then just a few drops of soap or spray cleaner take it right up. No water rings.

I'd definitely do soapstone again.

I'll admit to not loving my soapstone as much as I expected. My variety does not hold the oil very well so to keep the dark preferred color (IMO) I have to oil it constantly. So then I stop oiling and just let it dry out and then I'm dealing with water rings and dark spots. (I think water rings are a problem with the oil too.) I also wish my soapstone had at least one area with a wider white vein - mine are fairly minimal. I wanted minimal but with just a touch of pizzaz and the original piece I chose had one great white vein slashing through. That piece got returned for a bookmatched piece. : ( But my fabricator did such a phenomenal job with the stone that I can't fault him for that.

If I had to do it again?? I still think I'd lean towards soapstone. A lot of the granites just didn't do it for me. I looked at paperstone and it just seemed too flat... The stone does look perfect in my kitchen so I definitely don't regret it - it's just more work than I thought. I've had it in for about 2.5 months and am very pleased with it's scratch resistance. I chipped it for the first time when I dropped a large ceramic vase near the sink. It slightly chipped the edge - not that anyone would notice. The vase and a dish in the sink didn't fare so well!

I went to that thread RE soapstone and patina. In fact, I bumped it b/c I thought it was so helpful. Thanks to mitchdesi who suggested I check that one out. Francy, thanks for starting that other one and responding to this one. I AM concerned about the water marks and have emailed my soapstone provider to see what she says, and I copied and pasted a lot of your remarks and those by the other poster who was so unhappy not only with the water marks but also the mess ups with her fabricating and installing. All of this is great for me to ponder while deciding if I want to get soapstone or not! It'll be interesting to see what my potential provider of the SS will say! SW in Austin: the SS I am considering is Beleza, too, and I suspect we might be dealing with the same SS seller. Again, thanks for all comments, very helpful! Ali