Just got new Pental Quartz Misterio honed counters, which are white with a grey veining very sporadically. I hate them and so regret this decision! Nothing was ever disclosed to me by the store or the third party stone vendors that honed finish would have all these problems. Scuff marks from anything metal - the entire area around the sink is scuffed from washing pots and pans. Last week I laid some mail on my countertop and picked it up a couple hours later and the ink from something is now imprinted on my counter! I tried Fantastic (which is what the stone company recommends) , Mr Clean Magic Eraser, Clorox Clean Up spray, Windex, Acetone finger nail polish remover (also recommended by the stone company) and nothing will remove the imprint. The counter absorbs everything. I am petrified of spaghetti sauce, or red beets, or curry sauce, or a pen. I went back to the home improvement store I contracted through and asked about having the counters sealed and they said they already were! How can this be? If that is true, this product should never be sold for use in a real home. I am just sick with having spent this much money on such a huge mistake. DO NOT EVER INSTALL HONED COUNTERS IN A REAL HOME KITCHEN THAT GETS USED!!

Verde Butterfly: Stone Type & Age:Metamorphosed Quartz Syenite ... Charnokite. Archean Circa 3000 million years. Brazil: technical name. charnokite vs. granite ". Conducive to a superior surface finish (Flaky stones like Verde Butterfly get resined to eliminate surface crystals from flaking off. This provides a smooth finish to the polished slabs)" "The rocks in the collection are described as mafic charnokites (which is confusing in and of itself, since a charnokite is defined as a hypersthene bearing granite-diorite, and is therefore felsic with mafic elements) and related rocks, such as altered granulites, norites, and others" "Garnet is a naturally occurring gemstone. Its name comes from Latin "Granatus" meaning seed. Garnet is the name which can be applied to six similar mineral species, namely almandine, pyrope, spessartine, grossular, andradite and uvarovite. To further complicate matters, many garnets are actually a combination of these minerals. Rhodolite Garnet, for instance, is a combination of almandine and pyrope and is sometimes referred to as pyrope-almandine garnet. There are also many trade names and other commonly used names such as Rhodolite, Tsavorite, and Mozambique which only add to the confusion." After: reading all this: and about honed and resin and polish: and seeing "granite" all the time. I believe the process completed at the factory before slab gets to stone yard or to fabricator that makes slabs shinny >brings out the color in the garnets more: Honed process is different. I understand the pits better now: and I understand Verde Butterfly better after reading. It's about minerals and reactions to chemicals. And the reason they put exopy or resins on the stone. I don't know what the answer is to enhance the garnets the way you want them to look?: (I promise you even in highly polished verde butterfly: I have seen slabs that I couldnt see the garnite: they looked black to me! Garnets are formed uniquely) I believe a color enhancer will soak into the stone and may make the garnets brighter. Acetone on the stone: wipe off: let dry a day or two: could put fan's on the granite to dry. DO NOT SEAL wet stone. Buy a really good VOC compliant color enhancer maybe off the web. Not retail brand. Maybe you have a natural stone store in your area that sells commercial brand color enhancer sealers? Sounds like Verde Butterfly: is flaky. I personally have Blue Pearl and Verde Butterfly pieces in my kitchen & bathroom that has raw edges: exposed Rock: I put jewlery & personal stuff on stone and in kitchen I put my kitchen stuff on them for deco the verde butterfly next to my stove. I got the edge look with scraps from left over slab scraps & by "dropping" the scrap pieces of stone on the floor until I had a good look all around the stone. But my exposed rock was milky: hard to see the beauty of the layers. (also: I don't really see the Flakey layers in the Verde Butterfly???? that they are referring to: I am not arguing: but to me : "Gold and Silver" Granite from Brazil with net backing to keep together and full of resin to hold together that falls apart when fabricating!!!!!!!!! I have some of that: Beautiful but super flakey! Layers of flake that you can pick at!) SO : My point is: I soaked my pieces in color enhancer for a day! & now they look dark, rich, pretty and layers of rock are visable with garnets. Although the raw sides don't match the smooth polished resined top of the pieces: but I don't care. So, I believe what I am trying to point out: I can see my raw stone and I color enhanced it & looks pretty after I manipulated the stone's color myself. (all matter of opinion) FYI: by Boss/Owner here: she has Verde Butterfly in her kitchen 11-12 years now! She cooks constantly for big parties and has three "sloppy" kids! I am not kidding! Her countertops look great! I've been over there. She uses Olive oil daily! And her kids make hugh messes! She has a hugh Sink Elkay: $750 sink from 10 years ago: and never has dropped! and still looks great! Raw Travertine on the floor: not polished! Very abused and looks great to me! So, she is living proof. I promise: her countertops get abused! They are polished vs honed but still. Everything has been spilled on the verde butterfly and I am sure lemon too! (lol) : I promise! I truly hope this helps you and really : You island looks great and matches the fireplace texture look!Love your fire. ~Happy Holidays~ i am allowed to state that I personally used pro stone color enhancer commercial brand: and No I am not advertising for them! I believe any commercial brand would be good that you can get your hands on. Not retail. My opinion. Search the web or ebay for some. I could throw more names out there. But I don't want to be "advertising" I do not sell sealers or cleaners: I tell people were to go and what to use and what not to use. Also: daily cleaner for natural stone should have a 4.5 ph nautral level not 7.5 ph : and VOC compliant: that is my opinion as well. Especially dealing with all the minerals and chemicals in stone! You can read all about that as well. and make up your own mind on cleaners. BIG ARTICLE: http://www.thefabricatornetwork.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid=81&tabmoduleid=155&articleId=125&moduleId=420&PortalID=0

I had Caesarstone Honed Pebble installed in my kitchen (and a bathroom too) over three years ago and I love it. I did not want a polished counter in my kitchen, it was too shiny for me. The matte is so soft and calm looking imo. I also love how my counters feel. The matte finish is so silky and smooth compared to the polished. I did a lot of research before I got them, like alerievay1, and my advice would be to read the info from your specific manufacturer as to how to clean your counters, since it will likely differ from their polished counter recommendation. And get samples to test. Big ones if possible. It's so much easier to clean a larger sample than a smaller one. I was able to borrow some large samples from a nearby counter shop and the ease of cleaning of these samples compared to the smaller ones I had already gotten was surprising to me. I'd get samples of both honed and polished in the color you like, along with samples of other colors you're not interested in but can use to compare in general. I do see fingerprints and smudges, but not that often. Mainly on one side of my island where people tend to lean on it a lot. Those easily wipe away with a wet sponge or dishrag. They aren't glaringly obvious though. They are subtle and only noticeable at certain angles or when the light is just right. I do not have an issue with water spots. I have CS raven (polished) in one of my bathrooms and water spots show a lot more than on the honed pebble. As for staining, I have no real issues with stains. I was concerned at first since I'd read how honed quartz stained so much more than polished quartz, but relaxed pretty quickly once I realized my counters were super easy to care for. To clarify the staining, I should say that on occasion I've had "stains" not come off right away. We cook a lot of Indian food and sometimes turmeric stains the counters and leaves a bit of color behind. I'll wipe the counters down and all the color doesn't come off right then. It'll be subtle but still there. But by the next day it's gone or goes away the next time I wipe the counters. So I now know not to worry, all "stains" are not permanent. I've seen this a few times w/red wine too but it's rare. And again, the "stain" is never permanent. And I don't use some fancy cleaning method. Usually just a wet sponge. On occasion I spray method cleaner on my sponge or dishrag and wipe with that too. Here's an older picture of my kitchen. Still looks the same :-)

Thank you all so much for posting your comments here, reading all your comments finally helped me make a decision! We decided to go for leathered Taj for our kitchen renovation. Bacskplash, countertops, island…We have dark, honed marble now and ceaserstone and the marble etched and stained horribly. We were thinking of dolomitic stone ( similar to marble, not as stain resistant as quartzite) but after reading comments here, I decided for leathered TM. I do not want to worry, we cook a lot and are not super careful….Thank you. I will Post photos when ready, but here is the slab for now. It is polished, the stone place gets it honed or leathered. I like the look and feel of leathered stone.