Here's the tag that was on it...

no but it sure is pretty!

It's a beautiful slab. The only way to know if it has the properties of marble (etching) is to test it. I've never done the glass scratch test but there are multiple descriptions of how to do it on GW.

I think it's another name for Super White. I've seen it called Super White, Donna Sandra Marble (putting quartzite after Donna Sandra is new to me), and Moon Night.

As Romy said, test it. There's a huge amount of variation in what different yards call various stones, and many seem to call all sorts of things quartzites when they're not really.

Have you seen Karin MT's long threads about stones? I think her thought was that Super White is dolomitic marble, which is a little slower to etch than other types of marbles. We have Super White, and this fits what I've seen at home. Our counters rarely etch, even when juicing limes and such, because we'll wipe it up when we're done. Tomato sauce splatters dry without etching the surface. BUT, it does scratch easily, and after more than a year, it's got tons of tiny scratches. They don't affect the beauty, but they are visible if you sit down and look at it more closely. You can't see them from a standing position, and they're so small, you can't feel them when running fingers across it.

It's a beautiful stone, but test it to see if you can live with its limitations.

We have Donna Sandra Marble. We got it from Mont Granite in Cincinnati almost 3 years ago. At the time we bought our slabs, the guys at Mont strongly advised against marble for kitchens except for the Donna Sandra - they said it was more of a hybrid and was a stronger stone that would hold up much better in terms of etching, etc. We have been so happy with our countertops - we couldn't love them more! I have noticed only one etch marks over our entire space... and I'm not sure anyone else would notice besides me as the pattern and movement of the veining hides so much! Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

aokat - your kitchen is absolutely beautiful. I had seen it before, brought a smile to my face seeing it again today. I love your range hood. There is a current thread about how to warm up a white kitchen. You should post your pics on that thread.

aokat15: your kitchen is gorgeous!!!!! It's so warm and inviting despite what some have called a "cold" looking stone. I think I actually have a picture of your kitchen somewhere in my file of inspiration pics!! Your counters look like the first slab that I put on hold of superwhite. It has more chunk-like rocks in it...which I LOVE. Then I started hearing negative things about the etching so I still have that on hold but then found the Donna Sandra. I have done all the tests on samples of both of them (although they are not samples of the exact slabs) and they both etched. The Donna Sandra is in a honed finish though, and obviously there is no sealer on them. But I'm not sure that sealer prevents etching anyway. Either way...they both etched and quartzite is not supposed to etch! I'm just so worried about it but figured the honed finish might be a better choice since the etching wouldn't show as much. It's so nice to hear some positive feedback for a change on how well your stone has held up and how much you love it. Maybe I shall be a pain in the butt and ask them to cut samples of the actual slabs I am looking at. What finish do you have on your counter?

WindyCityLindy: I really don't mind a little scratching as I have a lot of minor scratches on my current Corian counters and somehow they just blend in and don't bother me a bit. I would, however, be bothered by etching I think. I probably won't be as good about wiping things up immediately, (or should I say my two sons & husband!) so I really have to think about this long and hard...

The superwhite I found has a lot of pattern like aokat15 which would help disguise etching (it is polished). But the Donna Sandra is honed which could also disguise the etching. Or I go with granite...decisions, decisions!!! I'm driving myself batty:)

The etching really hasn't been a problem for us. I don't take any special care when cooking things like tomato sauce, and I'll occasionally find dried-on blobs of tomato sauce that got missed when wiping up. Those have never left an etch mark. I juice lemons and limes, but I do give the counter a quick swipe with the sponge afterward to prevent those juices from sitting on the counter too long. I've found that five minutes is fine, but at some point between five minutes and half an hour, my sample chunk etched.

When the counters were first installed, I was paranoid and wiped everything right away. I got over it. I avoid doing the things that I know are likely to etch (like leaving a sponge wet with vinegar on the counter), but otherwise I don't worry. The few etches we have are not noticeable to anyone else, even when I point it out. It's nothing like a friend's marble counters (Calacutta-like marble) where you can easily see lots of etches.

The scratches on Corian are probably similar to what we get.

lcskaisgir - you haven't asked for opinions but this slab is gorgeous. I prefer this one to the superwhite slab you showed us.

This post was edited by romy718 on Sun, Oct 6, 13 at 21:53

Romy718, my perimeter cabinets were ordered this past week (white beaded inset). My island cabinets will be ordered this week (waiting for a sample door that was ordered in a gray w/black glaze). However I'm leaning toward a black stained island but can't rule the gray out until I see it. I just looked through all my inspiration pics on Houzz and Pinterest and the majority have superwhite or marble counters w/white cabinets. I can't seem to pull the trigger on anything though because I'm constantly second guessing myself. People that I show aren't giving me the response I'm looking for (favorable!) because they don't see my inspiration pics of the complete finished room w/everything together, just a 3x3" chunk of counter. All of the details make a difference...like lights, window treatments, furniture, etc. My husband thinks it will look too white (w/white cabs & marble looking counters). He also thinks I should enter an insane asylum and I'm not sure he isn't right! I just want to pick something and be done!!!

Thank you for giving your opinion. No, I didn't ask, but I do appreciate it. It's a softer looking stone than the superwhite and has a honed finish.

And P.S. thanks for letting me vent :)

lcskaisrir, I was going to say in my last post that the reason I like the Donna Sandra is because it looks "soft", which is a word you don't think of with marble. I know exactly how you feel. I drove myself crazy. I was sure my white cabinets were going to be too white. I compromised with my husband on the counters & got Danby instead of Calacatta because he didn't like "veins". I was sure I was not going to like the Danby. But I ended up loving it because it softened the look of all the white.
As far as the etching, you'll have to decide. My whole extended family is afraid of my countertops. My Mom is telling everyone, "you'll just have to hold your glass because you can't put anything on the counters." I have no idea where that came from. If the Clearstone is a go, they can all relax!
I won't tell you not to second guess yourself because i know it won't help. Your old kitchen is beautiful so I do know your new kitchen will be stunning.
White inset with a bead....perfect.

Hi lcskaisrir - it has been a couple of years but I know exactly how you are feeling!! It will all come together - as hard as it may seem! And don't worry if your DH thinks you're crazy :) Mine did too (he's not as detail oriented) but once it was done was blown away with how it looked and loved every detail that I obsessed about!

What color white will your cabs be? Do you have a sample of the white door? I brought my sample to the slab warehouses and held them up to see which tones worked best with the color white of my cabs. I was surprised that some looked much better than others. You may want to see if of the two slabs you are considering, one looks better.

I will say that I think Donna Sandra and Super White are the same thing. I have seen a handful of kitchens on here with Super White (called Super White granite, Super White quartzite... not always the exact same thing) but they all look very very close to what I have.

My slabs are polished and I love them. I had planned on honing whatever I bought, but after seeing them in person and polished I didn't want to change it. I love the way the light bounces off the surface. I have since seen a kitchen with Super White honed, and I think the honing makes the slab look a little more grey - totally just an opinion and that may be what you would prefer - but I thought to myself that I liked the polished look better. In terms of etching - I did a bunch of research as well about marble, etching, etc, before buying our tops and had planned on honed because of all that. However, the veining of our tops hides so much! (it actually makes it really hard to tell it's dirty for clean-up) and I think the way the light hits the polished surface also makes it very hard to see if there was an etch mark.

Can you post a pic on this thread of the other slab you are considering?

Good luck! And thank you so much to you and romy for your sweet comments!! We really have been so happy with our kitchen and still love everything about it! It sounds like your space will be amazing as well!!

romy718, cracking up about the comment your mom makes about not putting a glass down on the counter!! That sounds like something my mom would say.

aokat15, here is a pic of the polished superwhite. I will be taking cabinet door sample back to the two stone yards this week so the ladies can roll their eyes once again! They love to see me walking in, lol!

Thx for the support:)

And if I decide that I truly can't handle the "risk" of getting either of these two stones, this is the granite I will "settle" for....ho hum...

Take the risk! Come over to the dark side!

This superwhite slab is beautiful too. The other picture you posted was a closeup of this slab and didn't show "the big picture". If you haven't tested the actual slabs, one of them may be less prone to etching?

Well, I went back with cabinet doors today to the stone yard that had the Donna Sandra. I looked at it some, walked through to look at the rest of the stones to make sure there was nothing better, and as I came back around a lady was buying all three of the remaining slabs of the Donna Sandra!!!

I love the donna Sandra!!!!

Wasn't meant to be. You'll find your perfect slabs. Keep us posted.

I have the Donna Sandra Quartzite and it looks terrible in less than a year. I put sealant on it immediately after installation so I don't have any staining but I have etching everywhere. I'm not a big cook and I don't entertain often so the durability has definitely been poor.

I have read that it can depend on the particular lot in which your slab comes from...sometimes it has been infused with resins. Here is a link that talks about "Quartzite's Dirty Little Secret". https://candysdirt.com/2015/07/17/caution-quartzite-countertops/ 

This matches everything that I've learned in that there is no solution to the etching issue. It can be re-polished but will etch again. My builder is no longer offer the Donna Sandra because of multiple complaints. It is a beautiful look but I highly recommend choosing something different. It is not worth having to replace it within a couple of years.

I just came from seeing the Donna Sandra in a full slab (several actually) and it is indeed NOT super white. The Super white IS a Quartzite, but has Marble properties & will scratch, etch & stain like a marble. I know this because the Super White was my 1st love. I wanted the Super White so so bad, but with much research & sifting through the many places in my area within 200miles, actually driving to see it & seeing for myself, that depending on the slab yard/ distributor & seeing it in several places, it was being called anything from a Marble, to a Quartzite to a GRANITE, it got so confusing & annoying. I finally found out through my Nephew who's a Geologist that it's a Quartzite & rates 4-5 on the Moth scale, which is just slightly higher than Marble unfortunately, but wow ow is it beautiful & he said that given it's Marble properties, if you, not only have your fabricator seal it, but get it professionally sealed at least one more time before use, then you should have less problems with it. Which brings me to the Donna Sandra, it's a TRUE Quartzite. I spent over an hour testing it, sealed & unsealed & it definatly etched when not sealed, but a lot less with the sealed piece & cut right through my glass tile with little pressure. Again though, you need to seal it more than once preferably or even though it's a Quartzite, it'll still etch & stain easier than a Granite will. But OMG, I love it even more than the Super White, which says alot, because I love the Super White. I think I'm going to take the chance :)

Hi Susan,

I totally agree that the quartzite/marble situation is confusing, and if you don't mind, I'd like to clarify what you wrote.

Super White is not quartzite. It's marble. The reason it has the same properties as marble is because it is marble. Many stone yards label it incorrectly. This misunderstanding has traveled far and wide!

It's not possible to have a quartzite that rates 4-5 on Mohs scale. Quartzite is 7. If it's not 7, it's not quartzite.

Super White is a dolomitic marble with a hardness of 3.5. It does contain occasional bits of quartz that are small and scattered through the stone. But that doesn't make it quartzite. It's still marble.

Here's more information about the quartzite/marble mixup: http://usenaturalstone.com/definitive-guide-quartzite/

I sure do agree that Super White is beautiful! I love it too. :)

Hey karin_mt, I stand corrected, you're right about the Super White being a Marble, not a Quartzite. It did show up as a 4 on the Mohs scale according to my Nephew, which does make it a Marble. It's super confusing to figure out what's Marble & what's a Quartzite because it does get mislabled so often. I still am so in love with it, every time I see it, I love it all over again lol.

I have the Donna Sandra Quartzite. I've had it for one year now and although it's beautiful, I now have terrible etching. I am replacing all of it.

I don't cook often so it's unfortunate that this happened. I do not recomend it. I treated it, protected it and used special cleaning solutions on it. None of it worked.

I hope that others take my advice and do not move forward with it. If you have questions, please let me know. Thanks!

Ugh, bummer Kim! Thank you for reporting that. Sounds like you got marble and not quartzite. So sorry to hear that. Hopefully your info helps the next person!

Oh goodness. This stone is a marble/quartzite mix out of Brazil! It has both minerals in it so it's only moderate durability. This is not a full blown quartzite. The marble content in the slab does make it susceptible to etching and scratching as well as staining if not sealed properly. The other name for this stone is Shadow Storm. If there is anyone that would like more information from a very trusted source, please check out Marble Institute of America. They are great at giving you the full details on a stone. Hope this helps.