Thanks karin for posting truthful info. Yeah this dealer seemed to know more than other yards. I went to a couple others and saw Super White or similar ones labled as "quartzite" and was told by them that Super White was very strong etc. From the stone yard I got a Dolamite, Quartzite and Granite sample here are results of a glass/ scratch test: I tried a scratch test and the "Super white" Dolamite did not pass the Glass test where you try to scratch a glass bottle. The White Macauba Quartzite easily scratched the glass. A third Granite sample also scratched the glass I then did a scratch test first with a spoon and the Dolamite, Quartzite, granite all passed without getting scratched when I pushed hard on them The final test I did was with a sharp serrated plier. This could not scratch the quartzite, barely scratched the granite and easily scratched the "super white" Dolomite I guess the super white is no good I'll do an acid test later with lemon/ vinegar and stain test with wine.

I have a big sample of White Fantasy and a smaller sample of Super White. I was told they are the same thing, just different names. They're from two different stone yards and they do look similar but the White Fantasy slab we saw is much lighter and a bit more uniform/has less movement which is why we're going to go with that one. I squeezed a lemon on both samples and left the lemon wedge on it for hours and there was no etching at all. Both samples have a shiny finish (not sure if that means they were sealed or not -- I didn't do anything to them). But if your sample etched then I would assume that the slab you receive from them could etch as well. Is there another stone yard you could go to in your area?!? It really is a beautiful stone, and also the only one both DH and I agreed on! For what it's worth, both stone yards also told me that this quartzite would not etch and would be just as "wearable" as any other granite. They did caution me against using red candles on top of it (they said the warm red dye in the wax could stain, but could also stain other granites as well) and to remove all permanent markers from the reach of our children. Hope this helps! I'm interested in hearing anyone else's experience too! Thanks for asking the question!

Most definitely pause. It's marble often enough that I wouldn't dream of proceeding without checking it out further. Good catch nebster! Thanks, Karin. Being married to a geologist, but nevertheless not knowing anything about rocks, I appreciate your contributions to the forums here over the many years. I have spoken with the gal at the slabyard, and they say they've sold tons of these slabs over the last few years and have never had any complaints, so she felt like they would have heard if people were getting etching and marble performance instead of the expected granite/quartzite imperviousness. That sounds pretty rational, but better safe than sorry! What surprises me is that the arabescato is so consistently visually similar with itself. (Especially versus all the other "whites" that are out there.) So I am surprised that a slab would ever look like this and be of a totally different composition. Unless it turns out this stuff is always marble; that would fit with my simple mental model of the world. :)

Mamabear, I'll gladly be your enabler. I fell in love with Super White here on GW. When we went to look at slabs at the fabricator our builder used, I didn't hold out much hope that I would find any slabs so never mentioned Super White to DH. As we were walking through the yard, DH was ahead of me. I found him stopped in front of a lot of SW. I couldn't have asked for a better reaction from him. We tagged 3 slabs and took loads of pictures. I committed the GW sin of not obtaining a sample so no testing was done. I was just excited to have found this amazing stone and that DH was totally on board with it. Much drama occured after templating that I won't go into, but ultimately, we ended up with gorgeous countertops in our kitchen, master bath and half bath. We had the fabricator apply a sealer that supposedly would protect it for 10 years. One year after moving into our new home, I have experienced no staining or etching. I'm not an obsessive housekeeper, nor is DH who is home during the day while I work. I do have some small pieces now that I could test, but I've chosen not to. Don't want to jinx my good fortune. Good luck with your decision. I'm certainly happy with mine.