I love, love, LOVE my soapstone! Two years after installation, it's still my favorite feature of our new kitchen.

We have not had much chipping at all--a few tiny nicks is all. We have had a lot of scratching, but most scratches disappear after oiling and over time, they all seem less noticeable.

I don't know the specific talc content, but we have Black Venata, and its talc content is on the high end.

We got ours from Joshua at Creative Soapstone. He is, very simply, the best there is.

Love it (1.5 years and counting, 3 active school-age kids). Functional, beautiful and low-maintenance--reminds me of DW! ;-)

Few little nicks and minor scratches, not really noticeable on the honed surface. Looks lived-in, as opposed to abused.

Brazilian Black, allegedly one of the harder stones. We don't bother to oil it any more as it looks great either way.

Company split in two and is now in Escondido and Anaheim, CA. You can find them via Google.

Bottom line--despite initial skepticism from our CKD, it's turned out to be one of THE best design decisions for our wonderful old house. Soapstone was made for kitchens. We are very glad we chose it over the alternatives.

My soapstone counters are my hands down favorite part of my kitchen. They've been in for over a year and I still find my hands running over the counters for no particular reason. We also have Black Venata which is a softer stone with a higher talc content and haven't had more than a couple of nicks and that's with several titanium alloy lacrosse stick weilding teenagers running around the house at any given moment. We got ours from M. Texeira and DIY'ed them. Without question, I would do soapstone again.

I also LOVE my soapstone. I have Medium Minas from Dorado Soapstone. Not one you see very often. I never thought I would end up with soapstone because I was looking for a light colored granite, and after looking at endless slabs or granite, decided I wanted something different.

I don't oil mine at all anymore. I like the grayer color. Mine has a lot of veining and even some turquoise veins. Some small chips, but as Holly says, any little scratches just oil or rub out. I think its great for family use. No staining. If it can withstand a chemistry lab, it can withstand a family.

I have the dark "Finland Green" soapstone on an island similarly sized to yours (maybe a little smaller). I don't know the talc content, though I have rubbed the loose talc off of the cuts. The talc is even green! This is a particularly hard soapstone, though most of mine is still under a drop cloth because of continuing construction. This kind doesn't need oiling.

One thing I can tell you is that it's cold! I haven't had any heat, though some people call the temperature in my house "warm". The stone is very massy. It holds a lot of cold, which you can feel through several layers of drop cloth. Should be great for baking. :)

An echo of above: Our soapstone is my favorite part of our new kitchen. We've been using it for about 20 months and, even with two teenagers in the house, we've only seen the tiniest of chips and only around the cutout for the undermount sink. Really tiny chips, noticable mostly by feel and not by sight, and I know I've smashed things into that edge and others. We have had a few scratches but I buffed those out with a green scrubby pad. We've never oiled our stone, which is naturally quite dark.

Our stone is Beleza (from Dorado Soapstone in Austin, Texas) and I don't know its talc content but it's quite hard. I can't imagine a better kitchen counter.

Love our soapstone--Brazilian Eyes from M. Texiera. It's supposed to be one of the harders ones and so far it's holding up great but it's just DH and me. Hopefully this is my last kitchen and this is our forever house, but I would do soapstone again in a heartbeat.

We've had our soapstone countertops since July and I love them! They are unique and beautiful and everyone who comes in comments on them. We have had only one nick where DH dropped a can on the edge of the counter and it buffed out with a sanding block (we also have a very active 5 year old- but he has never been able to hurt the counters).

We oil our counters about every 6 weeks now and I can tell it takes longer in between each oiling for the stone to lighten. I believe our variety is Green Mountain and we bought it through a local stone fabricator (Elegant Stone Products in Viroqua, WI).

We're still finishing our kitchen (new fridge coming next week and need to install the tile backsplash) but I really do love our soapstone. They totally changed the look of our existing cabinets.

One thing to watch out for is the grit to which your soapstone is sanded. Some people here said they had lots of problems with water marks and such, and couldn't figure out why they were so cursed. Apparently, getting it re-sanded--or sanded to the right grit in the first place--made a huge difference.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about the right grit

Cool! Thanks everyone! Here is something else I am wondering: Does everyone who has soapstone do an undermount sink or does it work just as well with a drop in? I am not sure which I want in the island but am curious if it matters. Thanks again!

Do you love it or are you disappointed?
I love it, yet I am disappointed. I bought it before I found GW, and I didn't know it would scratch and chip so easily. I wish I would have gotten a harder stone.

Have you had any problems with chipping? Yes, it has many dings and scratches. Just this past week my cleaning lady put some really deep scratches in it when she was cleaning the stove and put the griddle on it, she wasn't careful.

Do you know what the talc content of your soapstone is? I have Santa Rita, it is pretty soft.

Where did you get your soapstone? M. Texiera in NJ.

Anything else to add? First I have to say I love the look of it after it is oiled. I am not sure why everyone on GW always says it is so low maintenance. I have had it for 2 1/2 years and I am constantly having to oil it in order for it to look nice. Otherwise it gets dull and gray and ALL the scratches and dings show. I have 3 small kids, so there are plenty from them. I don't find it to be low maintenance. If it gets water on it, then that spot will fade and have to be re-oiled for a more uniform look. My kids eat breakfast at the island, and always spill something on it. A quick clean up and the spots where they were sitting are now faded and gray, and have to be re-oiled. Not to mention, even though all the scratches can be sanded out, they still have to be sanded, and that is maintenance, right?
I am sorry I am being negative, I just want to give you an honest answer and something to think about before making such a big decision. I made the decision to get soapstone BEFORE I found gardenweb. Everyone on here raves about it, but I wanted to give you another point of view.

We're about to remodel our kitchen and are going to use soapstone. Can I echo BlessedAtHome's request for more information/advice/tips/experience regarding soapstone. I normally rely on Gardenweb's old threads to research my choices, but with the archives down I'm flying blind.

I'm tempted by grey Julia. Is it a good choice? We're planning to leave the stone unoiled--will the Julia serve this well?

Any advice on evaluating slabs in person (tests to perform, etc) and how to obtain good deals would be hugely appreciated.

~Liss

I am considering soapstone, too, but have been put off by reading in a kitchen magazine that you should not get it if you use heavy cast iron pots, which I do.

Do any of you who have not had many problems use cast iron?

We've had our soapstone for less than a year and have a love/hate relationship with it. We like it best oiled, but when we oil it we get awful water marks and rings (white ones that don't go away until re-oiled). The oil fades unevenly, too. So, for the most part we don't maintain it and as a result it's grey and faded and the veins don't show up as well. It's a look that some people love, very farmhouse, but it's a little too rustic for our kitchen. We have one chip at the sink and some very fine scratches but I think we have a harder variety. We didn't choose Black Venata because it was too soft but in retrospect, I think we'd be much happier with it especially because we would have been able to use Bucks County Soapstone who do a fabulous job. Despite the negative aspects of our stone, we still like it and can't think of anything else we would rather have used. We're hoping some of our problems are solved when Florida Joshua refinishes them this spring.

I have Old Dominion mined from Alberene Soapstone in VA....

I like the light grey natural state but I'll oil it for a party. We had friends over recently admiring the stone and a DH asked if it scratches easily and I said yes and picked up a knife and demonstrated how easily it scratched. Oh you you have seen the horrified looks! That scratch is all but gone now and there's a new funny scratch from my daughters binder but that will mellow too. It suits me and my family. Don't get it if you want glossy & pristine.
We have one big chip at theDishwasher (DH) but it can be disguised easily with the right dark epoxy.

Love mine. I've had it almost 2 years. We have an undermount sink and there are several small chips or nicks. No big deal but I guess it really depends on you. The guy that made our stainless counter top (perimeter counters) wanted to redo them because there was a small scratch. I wouldn't let him because I couldn't wait until they got used and broken in. Kind of like new white tennies. I feel like a kid on the first day of school with new shoes and can't wait until they are broken in.

My soapstone is almost like having 2 different counter tops. Oiled is beautiful. Worn and un-oiled is beautiful. And they are completely different.

donaldsg, I'm not sure why they said to not use it if you use cast iron pots. Do you know what they meant? I use cast iron skillets and don't have any problems.

We've had soapstone for about five years. No regrets. A few chips around our undermount sink; biggest was caused by a falling frying pan; might have been cast iron. Didn't oil after about the first year or so.

Tested ss by unobtrusively trying to scratch it with a key near the edge. Even within the same *variety*, some scratched more easily than others. We have no scratches or gouges on the surface that I have noticed. DH is super careless, so if something could be damaged, he would do so. We absolutely love that it can't be damaged by hot pans.

I absolutely cannot imagine have granite or another surface for our counters.

Sundowner: my guess is that the warning against cast iron pots is because they are so heavy and hard you may end up bashing them against the counter edge more than other pots when you wash them in the sink.

I definitely don't want a pristine polished look so I'm encouraged by what I'm reading here.

Sundowner and kitchenobsessed...what kind of soapstone do you have? Pictures? thanks!

Mine is Santa Rita (one of the softer varieties) and I absolutely love it. We've had it for about 2 years and have a couple of small chips, but they just aren't that noticeable. Mine was a little overly shiny when installed, but I recently got brave and sanded the whole counter space with 150 and 180 grit sandpaper and got that soft, matte, wonderful result that I always wanted. How great is it that you can sand your own counters? Try that with granite!

In the beginning I oiled my counters regularly and it felt like maintenance, but then (thanks to GW) I tried the beeswax/mineral oil combo and the results last much much longer. I only wax my counters every 5 or 6 months now, and even then they don't really need it.

Oh, and I use cast iron pans all the time.

I've had Julia for about 1 1/2 years. I have a few small scratches that do "oil out," and a black Sharpie (advice from this forum) work perfectly to hide any nicks. I oil it every so often when I'm in the mood. In general, I like it better oiled than not (it brings out the lovely emerald green tone when oiled) so I think I'll try the beeswax/mineral oil combination. Arlosmom, where did you get yours and how do you apply it?

Close up of Julia:
{{!gwi}}

marita, I got mine on ebay. I've attached a link below. I rub it on with a small dishrag which I keep in a ziploc bag in the cabinet for quick touch-ups. Buff off the excess with another dishrag or paper towels. Easy, long lasting.

Here is a link that might be useful: beeswax on ebay

Thanks everyone! Another question about soapstone: Is it good for rolling out dough etc. or would you get powdery stuff in your food? Sorry if that is a stupid question. Just want to make a good choice.

I love mine...I have the Brazilian Black like Yesdear. I have had it for about 6 months and don't have any chips. I do have some minor scratching that you can only see at certain angles. We also have areas where the oil has come off, but I'm in the process of trying to let it "go back to natural" to see which state I like better. I've oiled mine twice in 6 months with the beeswax.

You can definitely roll out dough directly on it as someone else mentioned it stays cool. I wouldn't call it cold, my marble is colder, but I live in a warm climate. Soapstone seems to easily take on the ambient temperature of the room. We did leave some samples outside during the summer and boy did it get hot!

gayl: Our ss is the generic variety that was carried by the fabricator. I collected TONS of samples before we bought, and what we ended up with is one of hardest. It is more gray than green and has minimal veining. After we installed, I wished I had chosen a veinier slab! Our kitchen is small, however, so plain is probably a better choice. I don't know how to use our camera or even know were it is. However, the kitchen doesn't get much natural light, and I'm not sure how well it would photograph under artificial light what with reflections and all.

In addition to our sink rim having tons of small nicks, the top rim of our counter in front of our sink also has tons of nicks. You can feel them if you run your finger along the edge. I don't really visually notice it. The other counter edges don't get quite the abuse, so they are pretty good. I would be hyperventilating if the counters were shiny granite because then the nicks would look terrible. But the counters are matte, and they are more like broken in blue jeans.

The counter above our dishwasher warms up when it is run, but otherwise remains cool to the touch.