I know this is an old thread. But I know I read old threads when I am trying to make a decision. We put soapstone and marble and wood floors in our kitchen in 2007. So we are going on 8.5 years and I LOVE IT ALL. My kids have grown up with it. We don't baby any surface. To be clear, my style is not slick and modern. I have antiques and an older home so I like traditional materials and I don't mind a "lived with patina"-but having said that I don't think my stone has much of a patina at all. The big island is soapstone. It has a few scratches-mostly from house-sitters and the kids dragging heavy pots across it or cutting directly on it like a cutting board.. But if I oil it (which I do maybe 2-3 times a year) they fade. I did search for a long time and I picked a soapstone that was know to be harder than others with minimal white veining-so this could make a difference. I think we could have the top polished/honed again and it would look brand new. But I think it looks fine. Maybe in another 8 or 9 years. I love it everyday! The carrara marble is around the sink in the most used food prep area of the kitchen. It is honed. I just had a repair company come out (only because we had to do some other work in the kitchen and hubby asked about it) and they honed it again and cleaned it up. It looks brand new (I didn't think it looked bad before). There are a few little pits and chips that cant be fixed-but I don't think they are that noticeable. I just sealed it after the guy left. It was never really sealed before. I have gotten a few stains and I have always gotten them out. I have had etching but I learned how to get that out myself (I use sandpaper-yes and it has worked beautifully for me). I love it every day! We are about to ignore all practical advice again and put marble in our master bathroom. I hope we have as much luck with it as we did in the kitchen. In the next few weeks I hope to post photos of our 8.5 year old finishes.

I have polished marble counter tops, tub deck, shower walls, and floors in my masterbath and I use a product made by "Granite Gold". For the counter tops I use the Granite Gold Daily Cleaner, which comes in a spray bottle. You just spray it on and wipe dry with a paper towel or lint free cloth. I do this everyday after I am finished getting ready in the morning. For the floors I use Granite Gold Stone & Tile Floor Cleaner. It comes it a 32 oz. squirt bottle. You just add 2 - 4 oz. to every gallon of water. Then mop, and you do not rinse. It works great for me and it is totally safe for Granite, Marble, Travertine, Limestone, Porcelain, and Tile. I also use the floor cleaner for my porcelain tile downstairs. I purchase it at Smart & Final. I do know that they have all kinds of stone cleaners at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, and the like. I have a tried a few different ones but I like the Granite Gold best.

I had edge grain rock maple BB in my last kitchen & I chose it again for my new kitchen, the main reason being the functionality of cutting on it. I use cutting boards for meat, but basically, I think they're a PITA & one more thing to clean. I oil my counters 1-2 times a year & I don't find that they look overly scarred or beat up; a serrated knife will chew up BB & I avoid those. I suspect that dark species of wood like walnut would tend to look faded & dry more than a light wood, but I'm guessing. IMO old cutting boards look particularily bad because of water damage caused by submerging or soaking them or putting them in the DW - all things that shouldn't be a problem with a counter top that's reasonably cared for. Of course, if you want a countertop that looks like fine furniture with an unblemished finish & exquisite grain, cutting on it would not be the way to go.

First, be aware that not all natural stone countertops need sealing. This is only for stones that need sealing. If your stone does not need sealing, do NOT seal! Sealing stones that do not need it can cause problems later with haze, streaking, ghost etching, etc. If applied inappropriately, the sealer will have to be manually removed to return the stone to it's original look. Stones with an absorption rate From our own StoneGirl (Jun 4, 2009) Whatever sealer you use, read and follow the instructions carefully and be sure to buff off all excess sealer. For maximum effectiveness, each application of sealer needs to fully cure before the next application - normally about 24 hours. Here is a how-to for sealing: You will need the following: Home improvement strength alcohol Lint-free rags or unprinted paper towels (the "Rags in a Box" disposable paper rags found at home improvement stores are really great for this) Paint pad (those hard, fluffy coated pads they use to apply paint) Sealer What to do: Clean your counter tops by wiping them down to remove any food residue. Wipe the counters with a rag soaked in alcohol. (Be sure to follow the safety instructions on the container) Once the counters are clean and dry, apply the sealer with the paint pad. You can pour a little puddle and spread it with the paint pad. Work in smaller, manageable areas. Leave the sealer for the recommended time and buff off the residue with the lint-free rags. Be sure to TOTALLY remove all excess sealer or you might end up with streakiness and smudginess. Change rags often to prevent smearing excess sealer. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until all your surfaces are sealed. Leave sealer to cure for 24 hours and test for water absorption. Drip water on the stone to see if the stone still darkens. If it does, another application of sealer is in order. Repeat the entire procedure until water beads up and no longer darkens the stone. Do not think that more is better. Work with smaller quantities of sealer and properly clean up after each application. Your results will be better than trying a single, heavy handed application. For daily cleaning, just use a couple microfiber towels (one dry and one slightly damp) Clean counters with the damp one - you could add some soap to it if you wished - and buff dry with the dry rag. No fuss, and pretty easy