Soapstone Care & Maintenance

SOAPSTONE CARE & MAINTENANCE

Soapstone Care & Maintenance

Proper stone care and maintenance is to understand your stone’s geological classification and composition. The information in this guide will help you to identify what cleaning products to use and how to maintain your natural stone countertops and backsplash, shower walls, tub surrounds and/or floors.

Soapstone is one of the easiest natural stones to care for – it will never stain and is nearly impossible to break. You can follow a few options, however, to keep your soapstone looking like new.

Daily Care and Maintenance of your Soapstone Countertops

Option One

Don’t do a thing. Time will make this stone darken over time and it will gain a natural patina. If a mark gets on your stone, rub it out with a dry paper towel and a lot of muscle or use a piece of light grit sandpaper. The sanded stone will return to its original color so keep this in mind when sanding.

Option Two

Use a standard mineral oil to rub onto the stone (not too much or it will look wet). Wipe off excess oil. This will darken the stone to almost black. Over time the mineral oil will need to be reapplied every four to eight weeks to keep all of your countertops a uniform color. If time goes by and you decide to let your countertops go back to their original color, you can lightly sand it to eliminate the oil on the surface.

Option Three

Stone sealers can work with a limited effect on soapstone, compared to granite. Remember that nothing can penetrate this stone because it is so dense. Sealers can’t get down into soapstone like it can with granite and marble but it does work topically.

One type of sealer will change the color of the soapstone to look like it was oiled. After several applications, your stone will have a very dark color and will keep that appearance for up to three years or more. For darkening and color enhancing we recommend Miracle 511 Seal and Enhance.
The other type sealer will leave the natural soapstone color unchanged, and will protect the stone from changing colors at all. This sealer should be reapplied every year or so. To leave the soapstone natural, we recommend Spray-N-Seal. If either sealer is scratched, you may wish to apply some more sealer to that area.

Soapstone Countertops

Kitchen & Bath Design

Soapstone in your home is beautiful. As well as adds value. Therefore, when designing soapstone countertops for your home consider your edge profiles. For a heartier rustic edge add a chiseled edge to your soapstone. As well as consider soapstone for it’s natural properties and low maintenance. Be sure to ask one your countertop designer about edge profile options.

Scratches

The deeper the scratch, the lower number grit sandpaper you’ll start with. 80 grit sandpaper is rough and will sand quite a bit of soapstone quickly. As the scratch is sanded out, you will want to graduate to a higher grit (220) or up to a 300 – 400 for a finish that will match the original grit finish. After sanding top off the repaired area with mineral oil or sealer.

Fireplace Designs

Designing A Fireplace

Adding granite to your fireplace design is striking and provides a hearty durable space. Whether an indoors or outdoor fireplace granite is a sustainable material. Ask one our granite countertop designers to assist in planning your fireplace design.

Visit the Stone Slab Yard

Countertop Store, Slab Yard, and Fabrication Shop.
Stop by our Countertop Store and HMKS Slab Yard located at 601 East 1st Street, Casper, Wyoming.

REGULAR HOURS
8:30AM – 5:30 PM, Monday thru Friday
Saturday’s or by appointment

Call 307-262-5999 for an appointment to meet with a sales representative to choose your stone.

Request A Countertop Quote

Professional countertop designers, fabricators, and installers.

HMKS Slab Yard has a large inventory of remnants and slabs available for viewing. Such as granite, marble, quartz, and soapstone for your countertops. Follow HMKS Stone Solutions on Facebook or LinkedIn for professional and residential countertop services.

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