I found this... -Stella Here is a link that might be useful: marble stain poultice

Alabamamommy's kitchen island is wood and marble. I'll post a link below. Beaglesdoitbetter's island is 2 incredible pieces of marble perfectly matched. Do a search for her user name at the bottom of this forum, it will come up. Here is a link that might be useful: alabamamommy's kitchen

I, too, am pondering the same! Soapstone and marble are on my wish list. We have maple cabinets with a cherry stain, & I wonder if the soapstone would be too dark on the perimeter, yet that is where it would work best functionally, i.e., wouldn't have to worry about staining, can put hot items directly on counter, etc. Yet would it be too dark? Perhaps a lot of under cabinet lighting would help, along with a light backsplash. A designer friend told me soapstone is too dark for my space; would work fine if I had white cabinets (which I can't justify since our current ones are in great shape). Yet I still pine for soapstone; I want to find a place for it (right now I have a soapstone spoon rest :). The soapstone on just the island could work, then marble or quartzite on the perimeter. I just don't know, and today I have soapstone samples on the counters trying to imagine it. I may look for a dark sheet or tablecloth to put on the counters to try and get a better feel for the look. I love the brown marbles, but I've read that etching is more noticeable with darker marbles, so something to consider. For now, I am hunting for a remnant to put on the small island; then I could figure out the perimeters later. Not ideal, but that would be a good "test" for us on the marble/soapstone. If it didn't work, we would repurpose it for vanity counters. With white cabinets, you have more options. I will be following this thread with much interest! Good luck! wags

I think these have come with use over the 20 years these countertops have been around. They are yellow discoloration marks in quite a few places. Then it is probably time to replace them. No way to know if those are burn marks, rust stains or chemicals from personal care items. I would try Bar Keeper's Friend or a stronger phosphoric acid cleaner (those used for removing hard water deposits.) If those don't do anything, then you can rule out rust.