Granite is harder, I believe. I've had honed granite for about 12 years in my kitchen and one bathroom. Bathroom I have black honed granite which shows toothpaste and soap spots. But the one in the kitchen (Wild West Green) is fabulous..I have never sealed it and have not had any chips or cracks. It shows no crumbs due to the speckled/swirled nature of the stone. I love it and will be using honed granite again in a new condo.

price, in most locations.

If you do honed AB, definitely read the threads about it to know what to do and what to avoid if you don't want to be a slave to keeping it looking good. http://www.gardenweb.com/gardenweb/query/honed-absolute-black

Honed AB is why my granite installer makes customers sign a waiver if they choose a honed stone.

Honed Jet Mist used to be a popular counter material on GW a few years back. I lusted after it = ) but it's not easily found in my area. Here's threads on that surface, http://www.gardenweb.com/gardenweb/query/honed-jet-virginia-mist

I have honed Steel Gray and honed Bianco Romano in my kitchen. Love my
counters! I've had none of the issues that many honed AB owners have
dealt with.

We considered soapstone - love the fact that you can put hot pots directly on the stone without worry - but didn't think that it was the right material for our 21 yr old home. People don't expect vintage home materials such as soapstone and marble in new-ish homes per my friends and family who are realtors. That said, if that's what had made our hearts sing, we'd have gone for it. But I have absolutely no regrets about my counter choices, nor does DH.

Here are a couple pics of my counters. If you want to see more, go to the link below the pics.

My reveal: 50 Shades of Gray, TKO version

It all depends on what granite you get. Absolute black, yes it shows smudges and fingerprints (pretty badly, the stone yard told me, and the sample there illustrated that). Virginia Mist I have read is much less of a problem. My honed verde lavras (color wise similar to some greenish soapstones but with more speckled overall pattern) shows nothing, no water marks, no fingerprints.

I have honed granite. The yard called it "jet green". I don't know what other yards would call it. It reads almost black from afar but dark greenish when you look closely. I have no oil marks or water marks. I'm super happy with it. No maintenance at all other than granite cleaner or soap and water.

I have a relatively soft soapstone called Mariana from Brazil, and would certainly not call it "fussy" ... I stopped oiling after a few months and it has been absolutely maintenance free for two years since.

If what is stated in this article is true, I can't see why anyone would go with honed granite over soapstone.

http://www.bhg.com/kitchen/countertop/honed-granite/

I can't give you any head-to-head reviews against granite, but I installed Church Hill soapstone in 2007 and I love it. It is definitely a plain stone, very tiny veins, sparsely arrayed.

RE that BH&G article -- again, it depends on WHAT granite you choose. Some are more absorbent than others. In 2 years I have not resealed my honed granite (in fact hoping for the color enhancing sealer put on by mistake to go away!)

I've never had granite before, but we are building a house and have chosen to go with soapstone - Churchill, actually. I just love that it is non-porous and you can't do much to mess it up. Also, I love that it develops a patina over time. We have an appointment Saturday to pick out our stones and I can't wait!

I have never liked granite. Thought I would go with quartz, as it is truly bullet-proof in my experience. But, I saw soapstone and fell in love. I know the pros and cons. I'll let you know how the love affair goes after the reno is done and I've had a chance to live with it.

Went to a stone yard and some slabs were referred to as such and such *satin*, not honed. Are the words satin and honed interchangeable?

We have Alberene Church Hill SS and love it. It's very hard for soapstone, any scratches are minimal and can be treated with wax to virtually disappear. I also loved the fact that it's mined in VA, just down the highway from where I went to college :)

The information in that BHG article is contrary to my 10-year-plus experience with honed granite kitchen countertops in my NYC apartment. As I said above, I have never done any mainenance on them--no sealing, no treating--since they were installed. And I cook a lot! They look as good today as they did then. Fingertip stains? Really? I don't even get these on my black honed bathroom countertops.

Here is an admittedly poor photo of a corner of my countertop; that is not a stain, it is a reflection of the flash. I can take more pics if anyone would like to see.

I wonder if the people bashing honed granite have ever seen it installed in a real kitchen. I like the honed granite so much that I am using it again in an ongoing Florida condo remodel.

We just had honed granite installed yesterday. Counter guys said we only need to reseal when/if we see the granite stay "wet" after we wipe.

Gorgeous counters, ekscrunchy and Adam!

Adam, is that Virginia Mist aka Jet Mist? A similar stone is called Nebula in my region.

Lisa, it is not. Our fabricator called it silver grey and it's much lighter than the jet mist we looked at a few months ago.

We're in the final stages of a kitchen remodel - putting in soapstone. Honed granite can lose its "honed" texture if somebody sets a too-hot pan down (trust me, it happens!) - Anyway, I like the way soapstone ages - if it gets dinged up or scratched, it adds to the character. Good luck!

Adam the countertops are gorgeous. I chose something like that for my condo kitchen and only hope it will look as good aas yours.

I imaging that putting a hot pan on any countertop would be damaging, but how often does that happen? Can you put a hot pan down on soapstone?

From what I've read, soapstone can handle pretty much any heat.

We really wanted soapstone ourselves, but were daunted by the supposed maintenance aspect. I think the granite we picked looks close to the soapstone we originally liked.

btw, thank you both for the compliments. :)

Yes to hot pans on soapstone. In fact, they use soapstone to make ovens.

I wanted soapstone SO incredibly much, but very expensive here in Missouri. In the end we went with leathered Black Pearl granite. I do like it, but it does show water and grease marks. I've been using Method natural cleaner, and it works great to remove the marks. There's definitely no comparison.....I would have done soapstone over this if it were in the budget.

Soapstone is used to make fireplaces and pizza ovens, no problem with a hot pan set on the counter.

I've set a scalding hot cast iron skillet right off the burner on my soapstone with no affect whatsoever...