Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
kcorn

Calling all Soapstone owners - who don't oil!

kcorn
9 years ago

Anyone who has soapstone and doesn't oil often or ever, would you please share a photo of your counter?

DH and I are having a hard time deciding between soapstone or a honed via lactea granite. I have read so much on this forum and elsewhere about soapstone and I love it's looked in feel; however, I wouldn't plan to oil it very often, if ever.

I have also heard of a sealer that you can use to keep the more muted gray / blue color. Has anyone used a product like this they would recommend?

Here is a soapstone slab with my cabinets (lower - natural walnut; uppers - white maple).

Comments (28)

  • kcorn
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    This is the honed via lactea granite with our cabinets.

  • peony4
    9 years ago

    The second photo resembles an oiled soapstone (not entirely, but at least in how dark it is). Are you asking because you want the gray of the unoiled soapstone, or because you don't want the maintenance of oiling it?

  • leela4
    9 years ago

    Here's ours:



    Closeup of the island:

    The counters are almost 4 years old and we have never oiled them. We wanted (and like) the light gray/blue color. We talk about maybe oiling the island sometime, but haven't gotten around to it.
    HTH

  • wags848
    9 years ago

    Our soapstone island was installed in April. It is a very wild, eclectic, mottled soapstone; a green/gray color with lots of veining...I call it a "soapstone impostor." :)

    We had every intention of oiling it, but decided to wait a bit and see what happened naturally. There is definitely a patina already; the stone is darker in the high usage areas where we sit, eat, prepare food, etc. The perimeter of the island is darker; probably from hand oils (we do touch it a lot!).

    I had a lazy Susan made out of part of the slab; I just oiled it a week ago. I used walnut oil. It's nice, but we are now going to keep the island unoiled and let it develop a patina on its own. I feel like the texture once oiled is not quite as smooth/soft to the touch. I also love how the stone looks when it's wet, after wiping down; the veins really pop...we'd lose that look, even thought it's temporary, if we oil.

    Here's our ss being installed. I'll post more photos below showing how it looks today (can't post multiple...sorry).

    (Now if I could just decide on perimeter counters...). :)

  • wags848
    9 years ago

    Here's our soapstone today. The lazy Susan has been oiled once. You can see how the ss is darker at the end at the top of the photo...higher usage area.

    We love our soapstone! Considering it for the perimeters in a less busy/more traditional ss...but concerned too dark...Danby marble is another option on the table.

  • wags848
    9 years ago

    A bit blurry, but this is our island wet...

  • kcorn
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    @peony4 - I am in love with the soapstone for our space and I can see that we might oil it from time to time (a few times a year at best) but I doubt we will do it often. That said, DH is concerned about the look of an "un-oiled" soapstone and suggested the honed via lactea was pretty close to the look I wanted, just black all the time. Bottom line is he also doesn't want to see the scratches as much I enjoy the lived in feel of it.

    @leela4 - your counters are stunning! Glad to see how beautiful they look without the oiling after 4 years!

    @wags848 - that is a much more mottled variety than I have seen before and it's beautiful! Thanks for sharing - I would love to see how they look now, too if you are able to upload another photo.

    Thank you all!

  • kcorn
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks wags848! Sorry I just posted at the same time as you were posting your pictures. Those look awesome! So glad to hear you love it. I think it would look beautiful on the perimeter too, but I understand the consideration for a lighter option.

  • jrmcmich
    9 years ago

    I have oiled counters when installed but it has been close to 2 months and they really have not faded that much. I also like how they are fading some to original color.

  • catbuilder
    9 years ago

    My perimeter soapstone is oiled, and the island soapstone is not. They look identical after 5 years. That is, they both look oiled.

  • fivefootzero
    9 years ago

    We have Belvedere from M. Tex...love it and we don't oil.

  • juliezlat
    9 years ago

    wags848, I love your island! I had kept checking back here for your reveal!

    We do oil our soapstone, but not that often. One advantage to not oiling would be that dents and scratches wouldn't show up very much. Unfortunately, the ss we chose is very prone to chipping and scratching (it's from Green Mountain), to the extent that my husband asked me the other day if we would have just gone with granite if we could have a do-over. I'm not ready to admit to that yet, but I do wish I had beat it around a little more before we chose this slab...

  • wags848
    9 years ago

    Thx, juliezlat! So sorry...haven't done an official reveal yet. Will aim to post a few more photos with the original thread!

    Re scratching, our slab is extremely hard...no scratches yet. Perhaps it's the green in the stone (or the other wild stuff in our eccentric stone)...but we haven't had any issues with chipping or scratching. The other slabs I considered were more black, more traditional ss, and I could scratch them with my fingernail. So, if you want soapstone & are concerned about scratching, just keep hunting.. there are hard soapstones out there!

    Love all the photos of the soapstone on this thread!

  • darbuka
    9 years ago

    Wags, your soapstone is gorgeous! What kind is it?

  • Mags438
    9 years ago

    Here's my Anastascia Ss unoiled. Unfortunately installers oiled the island before I got to them. Another oops in kitchen project. I can tell this stone will patina quickly. I've been holding out for the island to dry back to the original blue-gray but in the few weeks it's been installed, no such luck.

  • crl_
    9 years ago

    Our soapstone is in the bathroom. It was installed nearly a year ago. We have not oiled it. But you can see two darker spots where I set a face oil bottle down occasionally. And around the faucet is usually darker splotches of areas where water has splashed. I'm still considering oiling it to see if I like it--thinking it would even out the color some.

  • CEFreeman
    9 years ago

    "oohhhhh," she moaned, "how incredibly beautiful.

    Mags438, not only is your soapstone my dream, but your beaded inset cabinets make me swoon. Except I don't fall down or anything.

    Everyone, your stones are soooo gorgeous. Interesting to think that your soapstone can be heirloom, isn't it?

  • wags848
    9 years ago

    darbuka - Thank you! It was labeled "Polaris" soapstone. I'd never heard of it before; walked right by the slab, too, as I didn't think it was soapstone. It was a small "orphan" slab that I fell in love with after putting water on the slab and seeing all the green coloring and veining. I was told the slab came from Brazil.

    Mags438 - Love your soapstone! Have you tried using Dawn dishwashing detergent on your island to try and get it back to its "virgin" state? I've heard that can help.

  • pprioroh
    9 years ago

    we oil ours maybe 1-2x/year. It doesn't take very long. I like the look either way. LOVE soapstone - ours is 10 years old now (well it's been installed 10 years, it's really thousands of years old from when God made it :)

  • Mags438
    9 years ago

    Thanks wags and cef! I came across it by accident on my way out the door at m Teix. I loved a couple of large veins one of the slabs had. Although it has green in it (which I *really* didn't want) that shows up when wet, soapstone is just sooo nice I got over the green. The countertops did a lot to help kitchen not be so bland.

    I tried dawn - it lightened it somewhat but nothing close to original. Dawn works great on the oil stains though. My last hope is when a plywood window become a real window and more light gets into the room, maybe that will help lighten it.

    Thanks on cab compliments cef. I used sweetwater woodworks, an Amish family. They were/are absolutely fab-u-lous to work with! I couldn't have been any more blessed since my entire kitchen is pretty much all cabs. Sweetwater is located in PA but I know they've done installs as far as Florida.

    Thanks (oops forgot poster name) for sharing your Ss Susan. They were kind enough to leave me a couple of pieces ('unfinished', not sanded) and I'm dying to do something with them NOW but will exercise patience until kitchen is done.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    9 years ago

    Mine is from Alberene in Virginia; the variety is called Church Hill (the name of the particular quarry) and it's the hardest stone they sell. It was getting scarce in 2007 when I bought my slabs; it may be totally gone now.
    Anyway, these pics were shot 9 mos. after installation, when foregoing any oil, they had turned completely dark.

    And a magnet sticks to it!

    Neither do they chip or scratch.
    Casey

  • alizarge
    9 years ago

    We oiled ours at first and it was a very rich color. Now the oil is wiping and evaporating off, I find I really like the stone without the oil. I think it's nice to have a material that changes, and that looks good no matter what you do with it.

  • enduring
    9 years ago

    sombreuil_mongrel, What! a magnet sticks to it??? Wow, I didn't know there was iron in the stuff. Your counters look very nice. I remember them from several years ago.

    Here is my bathroom vanity and a counter at the tub. I fabricated these counters and sink out of soapstone remnants. I have not oiled them. They are light still after 2 years, but don't get used like a kitchen does. There is darkening at the counter at the tub where a hand is frequently placed getting into the tub.

  • Mags438
    9 years ago

    All the soapstones are so gorgeous! Enduring, a really nice sink! A sweet look and you pulled the veining at all the right places. Bet the one in front of sink is stunning!

  • remodelfla
    9 years ago

    we have had our soapstone heading toward 4 years. rarely do we oil. the last time was probably about 4 months ago. here's a couple of pics. the first is a work area used frequently and the second where we eat almost every meal.


    my stone was purchased at m. tex. at the time it was called monsoon wave.

    please excuse lack of captitalization. keyboard broken

  • jackfre
    9 years ago

    We have SS in both he master bath and the new kitchen. The kitchen has a 16' run and another 11' over the range on the adjoining wall. Sorry no pics. We have oiled the kitchen twice in the past year. We could easily not oil, but every once in a while I'll do it. I oiled the kitchen just to see how it would look. I have not oiled the bathroom.

    I really like the ss in both locations. The kitchen has a lot of windows as well as 14 led can lights and undercounted lights as well. If I had all of the lights on with a bright finish counter the reflection would be terrible. As well, the ss has a nice warm feel to it. It is absolutely non- absorbent and I've tested it:).

    I oiled the island slab (38x92) because we have stools at it and that is the pivot point for the whole house. As I look at it now the edges are a little darker than the center of that slab. Fingerprints, forearms, salad oil, all of the above plus...?

    We also did the backsplash behind the stove. There is an 8' window over the sink and we bumped the window out. We ran an 8" ss sill into the window. With the high arched faucet there is a lot of splash due to the spray and water pressure. The ss is excellent in this location as well. We installed a 36" Kohler Whitehaven sink which has been great for us.

    I guess I should figure out how to post pics. You will like ss if you go that way and don't worry about the oiling. Do it or don't. It is all good and your choice.

  • Mags438
    9 years ago

    @juliezlat: have you considered sanding out the chips with 80 and 150 grits sandpaper? That's one of the beauties of soapstone.

  • cookncarpenter
    9 years ago

    Oiled several times for the first couple months, then again once or twice in a year or so. Decided I like the "natural" look better, have not oiled in least nine months, and loving it...

Sponsored
ANF Kitchen & Bath
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars8 Reviews
Innovative & Creative Kitchen & Bath Designers Servicing VA