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bayareafrancy

Life with soapstone--patina pictures galore

bayareafrancy
15 years ago

I've been wanting to post these pictures for so long, but I've had horrible "soapstone elbow" from obsessive oiling, and I haven't been able to type much.

I don't baby this stone at all. In fact, I don't even use cutting boards very often (simply because I have a teeny kitchen with no good place for them). This is terrible for my knives, of course, but I like the nicks and scratches on the stone.

I have 2 kinds of 'wear' on my counter. One that I love, and the other that I don't love!

What I love are the marks of usage--scratches, dings, teeny chips. I want more and more of those. I'm restoring an 80 year old kitchen, and I want the counter to look as old an used as the rest of the kitchen.

Everyday look in my main (teeny) work area (you can see lots of fine white knife marks and scratches):

Another view:

After oiling (beautiful, but leads to pesky water marks, rubber marks, etc. as soon as I start using it)

What I don't love are the water marks! Argh, those pesky water marks! They drive me batty. They are only a problem if I oil the stone. If I leave it gray, the only thing that "stains/marks" it is oil (cooking oil, butter, etc.) but that can be washed off, The water marks mostly happen when something hot (like a dish right out of the dishwasher, or a lid from an in-use pot) is placed on it. The hot item seems to "steam clean" the bee's oil right off the stone. I can't figure out any solution to this.

Removed hot dish from microwave, placed lid here:

But the water marks I don't quite understand come from non-hot items. If the stone is freshly oiled, and I place a wet drinking glass on it, it will leave a ring. The ring (if faint) sometimes fades in a day or two, but not usually. Actually, I don't think think the ring is actually fading. I think the oiled area is fading to match the ring.

Water marks from regular glasses of water, and drips/puddles (these drive me batty). Am I the only one who gets these?:

Oh--the other thing that leaves rings is anything absorbent that can lift the oil out of the stone. So, I get a ring under my ceramic compost jar (the ceramic is unsealed on the bottom). Or flour spilled on the counter. Or rubber bottomed shoes (e.g. if I stand on the counter in sneakers or crocs, it will leave tread marks that won't go away until oiling. Or if I sit an appliance with rubber feet on the counter, it leaves footprints.)

All of these marks disappear with oiling. But constant oiling is hard for me and my poor elbow. So I'm thinking about "going gray."

Here is the everyday look in my other work area:

Another view (not for the faint hearted):

Of course, I still adore my soapstone. But I do with I could keep the dark look without battling all the water marks.

I've been painting the kitchen for a couple weeks now. It has been great to have mineral spirits and paint sitting right on the counters without worry. Of course, the mineral spirits stripped the stone back to gray. And I"m thinking of leaving it that way. Luckily, any color of soapstone works in my kithcen. But I do adore it dark.

But, black or gray, spotty or not, I love my soapstone!

:-)

Francy

Comments (136)

  • polie
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I had ordered a sample pack of soapstones from M. Teixeira. I was already gravitating toward the "Rainforest Green" and the "Malibu Green" (which may be a serpentine stone not soapstone based on other GW posts). In any case, both samples passed the water ring test with flying colors, which eased my mind. Now, I know that you're supposed to test actual slabs with mineral oil before you buy the particular slab(s), but do people test particular slabs for water rings?

  • decomom2008
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi everyone, The Ice Flower sample was treated before I put the wet glass on it and let it sit overnight. Yeah! no water marks! I am going to contact the stone yard tomorrow and ask what they treated the sample with. I really love this stone and it does feel harder than orignal soapstone, the green color with the veining will work well in this house. I'll let you know what he says about watermarks but it sounds like a 30 sec wipe is all we need. I'll be in touch again.

  • PRO
    Jefferson Street Designs
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, I did use beeswax/oil around my sink on Friday. On Saturday, water marks did not stay, but tonight (Sunday), they are staying. I can't be oiling every other day! I'm going to contact the company that did the honing, and ask them for suggestions.

  • logic
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    decomom, we have Ice Flower (which three years later we still LOVE)..it is charcoal gray with beautiful carmel colored veining..however, I'm not sure what the stone yard owner means by "stable" but we get no water marks that remain, and cooking oil spots wipe clean with one swipe of the sponge.

    However, it does ding, chip and scratch fairly easily, so it is definetly not one of the harder SS varieties....and I was informed of such by the supplier/fabricator, Bucks County Soapstone of PA.

    Also, as far as I know, Ice Flower does not have any green tinge like "original"...it is a pale grey pre-oiling..and oiling turns it charcoal grey. No green tinge whatsoever.So..I'm wondering if the one you were shown is indeed Ice Flower.Perhaps someone here can shed some light on this...

    BTW...FWI...a little puddle of water leaked out from an on the counter water dispenser that went unnoticed for quite a while. I wiped it away, and it DID leave a light mark. However..a little later on..maybe a half hour, it had disappeared on its own....and, I have not oiled the counters since June.

  • marthavila
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jay at Garden State Soapstone told me the same thing about Ice Flower as Bucks County Soapstone advised Logic. That it is one of the softer soapstones and, as such, it will ding, chip and scratches more easily than some others. However, IMHO, it's high talc content is also what makes it one of the most beautiful of soapstones, with a wonderful silky feel! It is a stone with much movement and white veining. As Logic says, it is pale gray-to--charcoal gray in color. No green tinge. Decomom, I'm thinking your stone yard guy may have his soapstone spiel a bit mixed up. Bottom line, though, is to worry less about the name or what the supplier tells you about it and more on how a sample of your stone reacts to oil,water, test scratching and blunt force trauma. :)

  • kitchendetective
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I haven't read this entire thread, but I just want to say that if I had a kitchen with soapstone, the first thing I would do would be to invite a bunch of people over for a patina party. (Yes, I know patina is supposed to have to do with metals, but its vernacular use has expanded.) I would want all those rings and the whole shebang. I have an all white, polished marble baking slab on part of my island and I let everyone use it for everything the very first month we moved in (it was over Thanksgiving 2005) so that all my mommy merit badges would show. It's becoming honed on its own. LOL. (Marthavila, I'm LMAO at the "blunt force trauma" test.)

  • bayareafrancy
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I tried grapeseed oil today. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's pricing, or this might not be an affordable option. I'll have to see how it works long term, but initial tests leave no residual watermarks. (I also tried plain mineral oil designed for wooden cutting boards, but that had the same water-ring problem.)

    So maybe my counter can be blackish after all!

    :-)

    decomom: one caution-I would be wary of any fabricator that "treats" the soapstone with a product other than oil. Soapstone is nonporous, and any product that you apply to it sits on the surface and will eventually wear off. And as it wears off, it goes into the food that you have on the counters. My own soapstone-inexperienced fabricator strongly recommended applying a chemical enhancer to the stone, which they said will last (keep it dark) for about a year. Experiences soapstone fabricators do not usually recommend this, and stick to food safe oil.

    francy

  • plants4
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Francy, I know this may sound a bit nutty but it comes from experience with both a trial piece of soapstone and a wood table (cherry). Try having a little water mixed in with the oil on your cloth and see if it works better. Sometimes the combination of a little water on the oily cloth works wonders.

  • decomom2008
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hello everyone,

    Thank you all for your comments. I will ask for the specifics of the "aging" this company uses. They are a highly recommended and very reputable distributor but I appreciate the feedback. This stone is absolutely a verde color. In it's raw form it looks like a chalky gray but once it was wet it was this amazing color that we fell in love with.

    Kitchen project is going slowly, no kitchen for two months now, getting really tired of cooking on the grill!

    I'll be in touch soon. Thanks everyone!

  • remodelfla
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The soapstone that decomom is referencing sounds like the Rainforest Green sample I had received.

  • mac_t
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Our soapstone is a green-gray with light veins. We have had it about 18 months, during which time I have oiled it 2-3 times. We have had no problems with water marks, and the kitchen gets fairly heavy use.

  • momali3
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    bump
    Bumping this because it seems so important. I have waffled back and forth between soapstone, granite, tile, engineered stone, and now back to soapstone. BUT Francy's experience and the pictures are very sobering, though I do like the grey look better than the black personally. What to do, what to do? I am thinking of copying and sending some of these posts to a very nice soapstone provider who actually went to the trouble of writing me four or 5 emails yesterday, complete with pictures. See what her take/opinions are about all this. Definitely, definitely I will ask for samples to test before I commit to soapstone. The ones she is thinking of for me are Beliza and Minas. Anyone have first hand experience with either of these? think someone did mention Minas; better go back and skim thru to find it. And all this about fabricators makes me extremely nervous. The 3 fabricators the source woman mentioned in my area...I am concerned about their experience and how much SS they've really installed. I live in a rather small TX city and, frankly, I doubt that very many here have soapstone, so how much experience and know-how are these local fabricators really likely to have, working with SS? Should I settle maybe for Raven engineered stone that supposedly has sort of a soapstone look and be assured of the ease of its maintenance and the likelihood that fabricators and installers will know what they're doing and not have to worry about radon????? Waffling Ali

  • allurid
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I enjoy the natural patina of soapstone and in my kitchen leave it unoiled. In my bathroom I oil it and if I do get rings I would recommend using a bit of Softscrub and the rough green side of a sponge over the spot and then reoiling only that spot. You might want to consider purchasing a specially formulated mineral oil, the ones in drug stores tend to be a bit thicker and leave an oily residue. Sometimes the soapstone companies themselves sell recommended oil for this.

  • nancy343
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi,

    I haven't logged in for several weeks, but did a test with my soapstone this weekend. I have a strange spot on the center of my island that looks awful. Every time I oil this spot fades within 1 day to a lighter color gray and it just does not look good. So, I think I figured out what happened. I must have scrubbed it with the rough side of the sponge to clean something up. I did a test little spot and achieved the same appearance. Now what do I do? How do I get this spot back to the original finish of the rest of the counter? I think I am going to contact the Green Mtn to ask about this.

    So, I guess my advice is beware when using the rough side of the sponge - in my case it seems to have permanently altered my counter in that spot.

  • farmhousefan
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi, all. Francy, for what it's worth, I emailed my soapstone installer (he's templating AS I TYPE so hopefully my kitchen project is drawing to a close!) about all of this. He wrote me back:

    "My experience is that the occurrence of these rare rings has nothing to do with the grit or the type of soapstone. It has to do with the owner of the stone, who constantly cleans the stone with cleansers and heavy detergents and doesnt allow the water to dry 100% before re-oiling the stone. This causes the water and oil to repel each other and will leave what appears to be a film or water mark on the stone."

    Who knows... just thought I'd post it in case it helps.
    In fact, after all the soapstone I have installed, I encountered only one client who fits into this category. This client is constantly cleaning the counters due to her child having a medical condition causing illness from any germs or bacteria. I have returned to the clients home on several occasions to address the issue, which I believe is under control now with the proper drying before re-applying oil. Hope that helps put your mind at rest.

  • jenswrens
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow.

    I don't know what page of the forum this post was on since I found it through a forum search for soapstone, but I'm replying to it so that it won't fall off into oblivion. It's too important to lose.

    I've wanted SS for so long that when I walked into M. Tex last week to pick up a box of samples, I had a weird almost tearful emotional reaction (like butterflies of joy in my stomach) to seeing and feeling all the smooth beautiful SS in the showroom. I couldn't stop touching it.

    Then I came home and found this thread. And oh, horrors. I've begun testing all of my samples. With water, no less. Patina, yes. I love my scratched and dinged soft wide-plank pine floors. But those water spots and glass rings? I don't know if I could live with that every day. What would we do without the ever-helpful Kitchen Forum?

    I wonder if Francy ever got her water ring problems resolved.

  • repaintingagain
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Definitely bumping - this was one of the most informative threads!

  • firstmmo
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My DH and I just spent 30 minutes reading every one of the above replies. Thanks to each and every one of you who replied--you have no idea how much it helps!

    We are still in a quandry over the SS.....not completely conviced one way or the other. However, we prefer the light gray color which sounds like it will be easier to maintain than the darker color that SS can turn when oiled.

    Francy: any other new tests for us? :)

  • Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    bump

  • onedogedie
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great thread! Thanks Google for bringing me to it! And big thank you to all the original posters for taking the time to share.

  • leela4
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow-I agree. Still trying to get rid of my blue tape marks-tried several things but no luck yet. I keep hoping I'll just walk in there and they'll be gone . . .

  • kerah
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bump

  • cassidyhome
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Installed Spring 2011, it's now May 2012. Treated with El Dorado Dry Wax with Beeswax. Big kitchen window, very hard water, and yes, we get white rings.

    We're in SoCal so we used Soapstonewerks in Escondido. It's been a lovely countertop, we love it!

  • cam349
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    bump

  • athomeinvagw
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here is a link to a thread with information on sealing soapstone, an option that prevents water rings and the need to oil or wax.

    Here is a link that might be useful: testing sealants on soapstone

  • Pamssturtle
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I installed Brazill Black in our cabin 4 years ago. NO problems with water or soap. I installed Santa Rita (black with white veins) in our home this year and rarely oiled surface has light grey areas everywhere soap has touched.
    It is much harder to keep looking consistantly good.
    Different stones- different care.

  • dretutz
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    No watermarks on my three year old soapstone. It gets heavy use. The only nick from a careless handyman who set his circular saw on the counter and "slid" it back into his hands. Urgh. I oil less now than initially--maybe once in four months.
    Counters to have rubber skid marks when I slide the kitchen aid on its rubber feet. Those wipe off with a damp paper towel. My cleaning crew scrubs the counters 2X month with soap and water. Easy counters, beautiful look.

  • Rudebekia
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I remember this thread because it gave me pause just as I was about to install soapstone. I went with Julia, and have had no water stains or rings at all in 4 years. Very few scratches or dings, too, because it is so hard. Best kitchen decision made! It still looks pretty much like the day it was installed.

  • Iowacommute
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I love this thread! SS is my first choice for a countertop, and this is a very thorough discussion.

  • Why_not_me
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What an extraordinary thread - iconic Gardenweb, I suspect.

    If any of you soapstone countertop owners are still around, I'm curious - does anyone leave it totally natural, no waxing or oiling EVER?

    Or, did you wax/oil it initially, and now just let it mature gracefully, with no treatment except keeping it clean?

    Just wondering if that might be the least distressing route to take.

    I'm a messy cook, and we have hard water, and I really don't like glossy cold granite, etc, but prefer materials that are more - alive (not sure what the right term would be): I don't mind them aging and gaining scars of use and not-so tlc as we mature together!

  • Holly- Kay
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am loving the look of soapstone! I know it is not for me because I love shiny but I have to say that it is heartwarming to me to see people who have kitchens that look lived in! My old fridge has my grandsons' works of art hanging all over them, I have teapots lining my window sill and was thinking of giving them up in my new kitchen, now I am rethinking that. I love looking at the beautiful, sleek, sophisticated kitchens but my kitchen just can't be "perfect" I think it would drive me nutso (well to be honest I don't think I could keep it perfect looking).

    Francy I just love your kitchen and the BM Barley may just be the color I use. Barley and Casabella are among my favorites.

    Good luck to all of you and your beautiful soapstone counters! Thanks for sharing!

  • Why_not_me
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    leela4 - thanks so much for posting those photos! Your countertops look just as I imagined - quite matte, but with a warmth and depth and life that just isn't there (IMO) with concrete, or most granites.

    Does the finish you've got have a name? I love how the corners are looking "hand rubbed" already.

  • julieste
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    leela4--

    These are gorgeous. Do you have any idea what type of soapstone you have? And, just curious about what color it is when you wet it with water. We too would prefer not oiling, but I have heard people say that places will naturally darken where there is a lot of consistent use. Have you found this to be the case?

  • bayareafrancy
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow: what a blast from the past! And to think, my kitchen STILL isn't done. (actually, it never will be: I've given up!)

    Here is what I've learned, and a soapstone update:

    1. The FINISH given to your stone will have a huge effect on water marks, etc. My counters were done by a grantie person, and were sanded TOO smoothly. other on GW have had this very same problem, and a rehoning by a soapstone expert has eliminated 90% of the watermarks and constant scratches. This isn't really an option for me because I don't have access to an expert, and I don't really even care anymore because....

    2. I initially treated my counters with BEESWAX which is very easily LIFTED by heat and "grabby stuff" like tape, rubber feet, etc. Thus, all those water rings and rubber feet marks were actually the gray stone showing through where the wax was lifted. i switched to oil (grapeseed oil from trader joe's), and that eliminated 80% of my marks. i don't get water or heat/steam marks anymore at all, but I do get slight "lifting" from grabby rubber feet.

    So, oil was the answer for me. (I never oil now. the counters stay permanently dark.)

    because of the fine finish on my counters, I get scratching like crazy. I don't care at all, because I absolutely want a "living" surface in my kitchen that is used for working on. It is a kitchen counter! I do everything directly on the counters. I also get constant little pock marks/white dots fom jars and wine bottles etc. that have textured bottoms. The section where my younger son makes his special recipe popcorn for us is COVERED in pockmarks from the trader joe's salt shaker that has a bumpy bottom. Sometimes the dots bug me because they look like they could be food/crumb residue, and thus can make the counters look dirty. and I don't like dirty! But if my son were gone tomorrow, I'd treasure every dot he made. His popcorn is the best because, I tell him, I can taste the love in every bite.

    The only think I might do differently with my counters if I could do it all again, is use marble instead. I luuuuuuuuuuv marble. But I don't love pristine marble. I love marble that has done its duty, and earned its keep. I have a marble end table in my living room (polished) that had all kinds of etches. About a year ago, I repeatedly rubbed the surface with cut lemons until the whole thing was etched. then, I left lemon slices on it as a test. When it was polished, I could see every lemon slice imprint/etch. After my treatment, the spots where the slices lay were invisible to my eye. I don't understand why people don't do this to their kitchen counters. Try it on a sample!

    Hope that helps!

    Life is short: use and enjoy your counters!

    :-)

    Francy

  • leela4
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    francy- I'm so glad things are going well for your counters! I assume you decided to live with the crack?

    why_not & needinfo: Our ss is called "smoke". It is a softer variety, but not terribly so. We have some nicks and dings and scratches. We did find out that the slab yard received it honed at a fairly high grit- ~600-800 is what they thought. That said, I think that affects scratching most of all as it is not shiny and has a wonderful silky feel.
    We don't get any wet marks or rubber feet marks as some above described, and we have pretty hard water. And there are some areas that have naturally darkened but that doesn't bother me too much as I'm able to get rid of those areas by lightly sanding with 400 grit wet sand paper (which I don't do all that often because it's not significant).
    Here are a few pictures wet and not:

    From the other side:

    And here is a sample oiled:


    HTH

  • Mr.Bean
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I obtained six square samples of Tribecca and Julia soapstones. Julia was smooth-honed and ca. 4 hardness, while Tribecca was bumpier and ca. 3 hardness. Tribecca has linear markings all in one direction, while Julia is more of a garden.

    I found that making watermarks on a stone with no oil or wax coating is impossible.

    After coating twice with olive oil, I attempted to make watermarks again. After 30 min. I could see a dark filled circle on the Tribecca. If I rubbed the watermark with my fingers, it disappeared (the watermark, not the stone; I'm not Merlin). My hypothesis is that the oil finish floats to the surface of the water, leaving an underlying water layer that diffracts light causing an apparent watermark.

    I noticed the next day that the oiled Tribecca remained dark but the oiled Julia had returned to natural color. If oil adheres to Tribecca stone more than Julia, and if oil evaporates we might get this effect. However, I don't like that hypothesis as I don't believe oil evaporates overnight, so tentatively conclude that the Julia stone may absorb oil more quickly despite all assertions to the contrary. Any assertion that a surface is non-porous has to be relative as all surfaces are porous at the atomic-molecular level which is where the action is.

    Perhaps these simple experiments, along with the experiment that coats the entire stone with water looking for incipient cracks are worthwhile prior to any purchase?

  • opphop
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    To follow up on the "ring" experiment, Mr. Bean, I conducted a "ding" experiment on my 2 sample chunks of Alberene soapstone. I grabbed a shallow metal ladle and gave a little whack to the ss with the rim. This made a good sized, whitish ding. I re-oiled the divot and expected the powder in the cut to disappear right away. It didn't. I tried some Scotchbrite to feather it in. That didn't wok. I moved on to simulate a hard plastic cup falling from the cupboard. A small ding resulted. Last I took a silverware knife and dropped it from almost-cupboard height and another disturbing divot appeared. I have set the samples aside thinking this material won't work for us.

    How on earth do we know which ss will be a harder one? Is Virginia ss harder than Brazilian? Is strongly veined ss inherently softer than less-veined? This seems to be an obsessive topic for some of us.

    When I asked my potential SS counter fabricator to comment on the varying stories I read on GW and Houzz about SS, she said she doesn't believe a thing she reads here. She is my only local source of Virginia SS so i may need to use her despite her attitude. I see these sites as a link to reality. Thank you all for the time you people take to share your experiences.

  • Why_not_me
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @ harmonyhill - I get that you want a really good surface, but - surely part of the charm and pleasantness of use of soapstone IS that it's soft, and being so, WILL mark up if you smack it around. If you want hard, granite's fine (don't get them to polish it if you don't want the gravestone look), otherwise, soapstone is a lovely natural SOFT stone countertop material that has survived the test of time, again and again, nicks and all.

    I can't abide negative (which is often a cover for clueless head-in-the-sand) sales people such as the woman you describe, and iiwy I'd be seeking out a fabricator who's so civil and willing that I'd feel good about giving him/her my hard-earned $ for my countertops! Maybe she's just a bit of a Luddite; ime the good 'uns nowadays are VERY internet savvy and VERY aware of how thorough much of the research we lowly home owners do - on the internet.

  • athomeinvagw
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Harmonyhill I can understand your fabricators stance as I have read a lot of misinformation on many different topics here and other places online but I have also read tons of helpful info. You have to be careful about trusting the advice that you get from people and take the time to do your own research, as you have.
    As far as Virginia Soapstone vs. Brazilian or soapstone from other areas, they all vary. Alberene has had different types of soapstone within its quarry that range in hardness. When the types that are currently available from Alberene are compared to soapstone from other areas it is harder than some and softer than some. Most soapstones will dent when objects are dropped on them, there are a few that don't but they are not the norm. As far as veined stones, I had a sample of a Brazilian soapstone that had pretty vivid and wild veins and it was a little harder than the Old Dominion from Alberene so I do not believe that all of the soapstone with pronounced veins are softer.
    I have had soapstone from Alberene in 3 rooms of my house, including the kitchen, for over 4 years and am very happy with it but it is not perfect. As a whole my counters look great but I have dents in areas, I have small scratches, and I have a sprinkling of white marks from a sugar jar's bottom. For the most part I like the way that the counters are aging but if you want counters that don't show any wear you may want to look at some of the honed granite like Virginia Mist.

    Mr Bean- if you are really worried about water marks and are not opposed to sealants you can try an enhancing sealant like Miracle 511, it keeps the stone dark and makes water bead up so no chance of water rings.

  • musicteacher
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I know this is a very old conversation, but I have found the prettiest soapstone which is cheaper than most places quoted, but is also so soft I can actually scratch it with my thumbnail. Do any of you soapstone lovers have stone that soft and does it really matter? This stone (has no name at the fabricator) is a medium grey with white veins. The only other soapstone available to me is much busier, lots of black against the grey background - almost looks striped. It is harder, and more expensive because the fabricator is more expensive. I don't like it as much - except for the durability maybe. How bad is soft?

  • itsallaboutthefood
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a soft soapstone (barroca) and I just checked and I could easily scratch it with my fingernail (just a tiny scratch which blends in with everything else). Although I think part of what is actually scratching is the oxidized layer (which is what makes it get blacker as it gets older and can be built up faster with oiling). My soapstone has lots of little scratches. Lots. And little chips here and there.

    But "does it matter"? Not to me. I expected and wanted that patina.

    "Does it matter" is really a very personal question...do you like things pristine and perfect? Or lived in?

    Here is another Gardenweb soapstone thread about this same question...I'm sure there are many, many more.

    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg121942053713.html

  • cookncarpenter
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would consider my soapstone relatively soft, it's called Mariana, and yes I can scratch it with with a fingernail.
    Pretty much agree with everything itsallaboutthefood says.
    My only regret is that I didn't know about soapstone 30 years ago...best counter top I've ever had, love it!

  • prospect711
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We've had our Beleza soapstone for almost three years. It is a hard variety - (or I have soft fingernails). It has a few scratches a small chip, and some patina. We don't oil it, and we really like it.

  • OKMaybe
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm trying to find anyone that has Noire Soapstone countertops.

    I was shopping for granite and stumbled across the Noire and immediately fell in love. Then I read the comments on Garden web of the one fabricator who rejected the Noire, and the sample that arrived broken. I also had 1 fabricator I talked to refuse to work with because its harder to fabricate.

    That, alone should be enough to turn me off, but it hasn't.

    What I really want to hear from is anyone who has it installed and how they like it.

    Does anyone have experience with Noire?

  • honeydora
    8 years ago

    We have had ss for about a year now & we absolutely love it. I researched a lot. I love the lived in look. Our house is on the rustic side anyway. A polished stone would never have looked right. I even did the edges myself to get a really old worn look to them. I use a product I found through "The Real Milk Paint Co" it's called a Soapstone Sealer & wood wax. It doesn't really seal the ss. It does the same as oil, but much faster with fewer treatments. I have been very happy with this product. It has walnut oil & pure Carnauba wax. Obviously not finished. Still have to tile for the back splash.

  • PRO
    Garden State Soapstone
    8 years ago

    Bayareafrancy, we make a completely organic and original oil and wax that works wonders on any soapstone counter!

    I know you stated you want to use your soapstone (like you should) and an elbow joint is coming apart because of excessive oiling.... Try our wax and we guarantee you'll get that worn and beautifully used look like you're looking for AND it won't dismantle your counter's joints. Find the wax and oil here ---- http://www.soapstoneproducts.com/index.php?route=product/latestshowall

  • kwillz007
    8 years ago

    Not many of you are talking about waxing your soapstone vs oiling. I am strongly considering soapstone for our new countertops and have heard far better reviews regarding waxing then oiling. I hear the oil can be messy and is not absorbed as well as the wax.

    This product: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RO1X8K?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B007RO1X8K&linkCode=xm2&tag=forthelove005-20 is said to be made of all natural ingredients, is easy to apply and proves to protect the soapstone over long periods of time.

    Food for thought as we all discuss soapstones pros/cons.

  • Heather Bishop
    5 years ago

    I am also considering a soapstone countertop for my new home. I've been to my countertop shop and have acquired a 5x5 piece. For the past few weeks, I've been conducting "experiments" on it-butter, red wine, bacon fat, olive oil, water marks, knife work, etc. I've oiled it and will now try the wax product mentioned above. I have growing confidence that I am "a soapstone person" because I've had a chance to live with it. If you are considering a soapstone counter, get a chunk and play with it before you invest in an entire kitchen.


    Also-re water marks. It may be that water in different locations have different mineral contents. If water marks are truly driving you crazy, play with different waters (distilled, botted, etc) and then consider a water treatment system for your home. I have high calcium in my current home. It leaves marks on everything. I've played with bottled water on my soapstone chunk, and there's a difference.

  • michelebm
    last year

    Thank you for taking the time to post, including your pictures. It's very helpful for me to understand the challenges of soapstone counters.

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