It's dramatic! So pretty. Somehow I'm skeptical that it is really soapstone though. Stone places aren't very good about naming stones accurately. How is it for staining, etching, scratching?

Gorgeous!! I am literally in awe of how beautiful that stone is. I love the cabinets too and the combination is just stunning.

Gorgeous! I love marble & soapstone. Lucky you. Keep us posted about how it holds up. Those are pictures of your kitchen, correct? Your wood cabinets are beautiful. What wood species?

Agree with all of the above: gorgeous, compelling, and really worthy of testing in your own home.

Is yours already installed or are those pics from another kitchen? It really is a beauty.

If you've already had it installed, then proceed with care until you learn about how it will hold up.

If not, then by all means bring a sample home and run the battery of tests. I agree with crl that stone ID's are usually unreliable, and it could be marble. I also agree with GreenDesigns that you'd want to investigate the hardness.

Thanks for sharing this though - it is always exciting to hear about the successful use of an unconventional rock, especially one as sexy as this!

Those pics are from my kitchen and it is already installed. Good advice though on testing out the etching and staining on a scrap piece. I still have a 40" by 40" piece left that I need to find a good use for (possibly a vanity in the bathroom).

For those that asked the cabinets are a clear alder with a walnut finish.

My island is an ivory / cream color and will have a black walnut counter top. I'll post some more pics as I make a little more progress.

Wow- that is amazing. Congrats on an unusual but gorgeous countertop!

Its beautiful!

wow, I wonder if it's really soapstone, or if they just call it that....
Regardless, it's pretty, and goes so well with your lovely inset cabinets!

Beautiful stone! But I too am skeptical as to if it is really soapstone, or just labeled as such.
Take a piece of your remnant, and put wine, tomato sauce, red berries, blue berries, coffee, tea, and anything else you can think of, even battery acid for that matter!
If it has no reaction, and shows no staining, it just may be soapstone...
Regardless, it really is unique and goes very well with your cabinetry :)

Koky,
Really pretty choice. And the cabinets are a great color.
We are building in the STL area too! Would you mind telling me who you bought your stone from? We are excavating the lot now and will be making kitchen choices soon.
Thanks
KZim

Beautiful kitchen! Do show progress and how your tests go.

I do hope it holds up, because it's so lovely!

OK, I know you were being tongue in cheek about the battery acid, Ctycdm, but "don't try this at home." You'd almost certainly burn yourself and I don't even think you'd learn much from it because an acid that strong would probably damage many types of rocks.

Simple lemon juice will do!

Sorry to be overly cautious, but you just know someone, somewhere, would be tempted to try it.

Maybe just a little tongue in cheek karin ;) and yes "don't try this at home" ... but as you know soapstone has been used in chemistry labs forever for the reason it does not react with acids or other chemicals, and I know battery acid will not phase it, nor will muriatic acid.
It is totally non porous, so nothing really has a chance to do it's thing on it.
Again, the op's stone is a beautiful species whatever it is...

I remember someone saying their sample didn't pass the "hitting it with a hammer" test. Who hits their countertops with a hammer?

If you were trying to open a coconut, a hammer works pretty well, but I would do it on the garage floor and not my counter ... but I could see someone trying to do it on tthe counter, and missing the coconut when they swing!!

KZim, I got the slab at Midwest Tile and Marble over by Westport. FBStone did the install.

kolky - jealous!!!! Both it and your lovely warm cabinets look amazing together.

Kolky - I have never really wanted a stone before...more partial to wood but THAT I love. Really goes well with your cabinets. Can you share a rough sq ft price?

Thanks

Gorgeous!!!!

Is this really soapstone or the less seen variety of quartzite Maccalbus?

Either way, enjoy

Nice!!!!

I am going to clip it for reference for my next remodel : )

Kolky, I LOVE the White Soapstone counters so much! Your cabinets are beautiful! I can't wait to see your finished kitchen. Also please do share how it holds up.

This link says that the Soapstone countertops can range from white to marble like white and gray to gray to dark gray. I really do love the unique beautiful White Soapstone countertops! I also like that it is nonporous despite being softer than granite.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Pros & Cons to Natural Soapstone Countertops

It is absolutely beautiful....can't wait to see your finished kitchen.

I can't wait to see the backsplash! Beautiful stone, well done.

Wait WHAT?!?! White soapstone?!?! I had no idea and I LOVE it! Will you let us know how the staining/etching tests come out? I

Love your white soapstone! Had that slab been sitting next to my Green Iron when I bought it, I would have gotten the White. It looks great with your cabinets.

I'm in the market for soapstone right now and also just saw the white at our local Midwest Tile (Mpls). It is stunning! I too was (am?) skeptical about whether this is truly soapstone or not. The reason for the skepticism is that there have been--and are-- varieties of granite labeled "soapstone" because they are look-alikes. I called a local company just yesterday to ask about a slab labeled soapstone, and the person on the phone said, "Oh it is really granite; we just call it soapstone!"

Congratulations on your unique and awesome choice! It looks great with your cabinets. Any counter subjected to all those potentially harmful things put on it or hammered on it would show some sort of failure. Don't worry about it. Enjoy it in good health!

@ bundy123....Hard to say an exact price. It ran me about $80/sq ft installed but that's not taking into account the 40"x 40" piece I still have left over that I plan on making a vanity out of in the bathroom next to the kitchen so I would say it was less than $80. I also had a buddy of mine install it so I may have gotten a deal.

@marita40....I definitely don't think it is granite. Couple of reasons. First my buddy who installed it said it is extremely heavy like most soapstone. Second the guy at the warehouse took a key and gouged into it so it is softer than granite.

Gorgeous

Love your kitchen! The stone is fabulous. I love your cabs too! Congrats!!

Oh, my.
Not only do I find that one of the most interesting pieces of stone evah, but your cabinets are INSET! I get the vapors over that.

I really like that stone, too. I'm saving for holding out for soapstone, too, and this is an incredible variation. Your space is gorgeous.

I always laugh at the dire warnings of the faint hearted over soapstone. Then, someone has a moment of HUH?-sanity and reminds all about the laboratory testing soapstone has withstood.

romy. hammer? Were you alluding to me and my construction habits on my kitchen counters and floors? So I whacked the plywood underlayment with a hatchet once. Big deal. (I filled it with wood putty.) and backing nails out of reclaimed wood into my counter? Hey. I built the thing, I can sand it out. Someday. But perhaps you're right. These weren't stone. Just humble wood victims. LOL!

Hi Kolky....update on how you're liking the white soapstone, please! It is absolutely BEE-U-TI-FUL. LOVE!!

Hi Kolky....I am with twobelles, please give us an update. I am looking at different stone for my Florida home. I love soapstone, however I am really looking for a simple gray with not to much action in it. I do love this white soapstone but not sure with white cabinets how it would look. It does make me want to step out of my "gray" comfort zone, lol

robinjoy, I saw the white soapstone locally, and it is busier if you're wanting something with not too much action. Very pretty, though. Soapstone isn't white, so not sure why they named it as such. If you can get your hands on a sample, do some testing.

Kolky, how has your white soapstone held up? We are thinking of installing in a few weeks. Had a marble slab all picked out and then saw the white soapstone. I assumed it would have all of the properties of soapstone, no etching, no staining. Love to hear what you think now.

According to M. Teixeira, white soapstone is really marble and not soapstone. From their site:

"This stone has a white background, with gray veining. A fantastic option if you are looking to go with soapstone on the main counters and this on the island, or vice versa, they compliment each other very well.

This is however, not a soapstone. This is an exotic marble from Italy. The quarrier calls it a ³white soapstone² because it resembles the inverse look of soapstone (white background with gray veins).

While other vendors may not disclose to consumers the true classification of stones, we are committed to offering our clients the most variety and quality of soapstones as well as unmatched product knowledge and costumer service.

Except for pure talc or sculpture grade soapstone, a white architectural grade steatite/soapstone still has not been discovered."

I too am in love with marble. Real marble. Struggling with installing it on a very large working island with a farm sink. I chose a soapstone perimeter surrounding the range and edges of my new kitchen. Went to the fabricator again yesterday to look at perhaps Danby Marble instead of Carrara White on the island. He offered white soapstone. Seemed like the perfect choice! They are looking into finding a slab large enough for the island.8x5.5. Too large for a single quartz or corian slab. (thought that was my solution) Last night I looked up white soapstone. Not much information out there. I did read that it's not real soapstone. I was hoping to see photos or hear from someone who'd actually installed and lived with White Soapstone. Not a fan of granite. We looked at river white, tidal white, alaska etc...

If you're ok with the etching and/or staining that comes with marble, then white "soapstone" may work great for you. Get a sample if you can to test.

It's definitely beautiful.

I prefer the subtlety of marble. Would settle for the drama of white soapstone, if I knew that a spill left overnight would wipe right off. The look of white soapstone (what I've seen) is fairly bold, still preferable to the granite I've seen. I just hoped that Kolky could offer some words of wisdom after living with the counters for a few years.

Drooling over the soapstone and the gorgeous cabinets!

We also seen this at Midwest tile and got home to read about soapstone because the slab we seen was gorgeous. Found mixed info and this blog so I called them and they said the mineral content is close to soapstone but it actually marble. They also market a product called super white granite but turns out to be quartzite. I can't but wonder how they are allowed to do this. What if you spilled lemon juice, red sauce and thought oh well soapstone won't can take it and then end up with a big stain or etched area. Very bad biz shame on you Midwest tile

Super white is almost always actually marble, though many stone yards label it as quartzite. There is a great series of threads here on countertop geology that describe how to test samples to be sure you know what you are buying.

Kolky, after a while of living with the white forest soapstone, what have you discovered about it etching and scratching?

I am redoing my master bath and considering super white, Carrera or this stone labeled white soapstone. My fabricator has it but has never worked with it before so could not tell me about its properties. Hopefully they will cut the slab they have soon so they can give me a sample. I'd love to hear anyone's actual experience with the stone in the meantime. Thanks!

Where did you find the white forest soapstone?

Hello! Can you give us an update on how this has stood up over time?

We just had a product sold to us as “white soapstone” installed on our kitchen island and bathroom countertops. I tested a small piece that was set aside for a cutting board. It was stained by both vinegar and ketchup, and vigorously fizzed when I put a few drops of muriatic acid on it. That means it’s marble. Unfortunately, since it was sold as soapstone it was never sealed and we paid significantly more for it. Currently trying to iron this out with the retailer.

Uh oh! Let me know if you need backup on working this out with your retailer. This is where some geology can help.