Material comparison
Granite vs. Soapstone Countertops
The short answer
Granite and soapstone both handle heat well, but that's roughly where the similarity ends. Granite is hard (Mohs 6–7), comes in a wide color range, and needs annual sealing. Soapstone is soft (Mohs 2–3.5), comes only in grays and near-blacks, and needs no sealing ever because it's genuinely non-porous. Soapstone also doesn't etch from acids, which granite doesn't either. The decision usually comes down to two things: how much the color range matters to you, and whether you want to skip sealing permanently. If you cook heavily, want no sealing hassle, and like a matte gray surface that ages into a dark patina, soapstone is worth serious consideration. If you want variety of color and a harder, more scratch-resistant surface, granite wins.
Granite vs. Soapstone: spec by spec
| Spec | Granite | Soapstone |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Natural | Natural |
| Hardness (Mohs) | 6–7 | 2–3.5 |
| Heat resistance | Excellent | Excellent |
| Stain resistance | High | High |
| Scratch resistance | High | Low |
| Etch resistance | Excellent | Excellent |
| Needs sealing | Yes | No |
| Relative cost | $$ $$$ | $$$ |
| Maintenance | Seal once a year or when water stops beading. | No sealing needed. |
Where Granite and Soapstone actually differ
Granite
Natural stone · Mohs 6–7
A natural igneous stone prized for heat resistance, unique variation, and decades of proven kitchen performance.
Best for:
- →High-traffic kitchen countertops
- →Cooking enthusiasts who use the range heavily
- →Buyers who want natural stone without marble's maintenance demands
- →Anyone who wants one-of-a-kind character in a durable package
Care:
Seal once a year or when water stops beading. Otherwise wipe with mild soap and water. No special products needed.
Watch out for:
- !Every slab is unique. What you see in a showroom sample may differ from your actual slab. Look at the full slab before you buy.
- !Needs periodic sealing. Skip it and darker liquids (red wine, oil) can work into the pores over time.
- !Some granites have natural fissures that are not defects. They're part of the stone.
Soapstone
Natural stone · Mohs 2–3.5
A soft, talc-based natural stone that is genuinely non-porous, acid-proof, and highly heat-resistant. It will scratch and dent, but those can be sanded out. It will darken and develop a patina over time.
Best for:
- →Heavy-cooking kitchens where heat is a constant factor
- →Buyers who want to skip sealing entirely
- →Those who like a surface that changes and develops character over time
- →Farmhouse, traditional, and modern industrial aesthetics
Care:
No sealing needed. Many owners apply mineral oil periodically to even out the patina and deepen the color. Scratches and shallow dents can be sanded out with fine sandpaper. Day-to-day: soap and water.
Watch out for:
- !It will scratch and dent. Soapstone is soft (Mohs 2–3.5). The good news: surface scratches are sandable, which is not true of harder stones.
- !Color range is limited. You get grays, near-black, and some green-gray tones. Not the right choice if you want beige, brown, or white countertops.
- !It will darken over time. This is the material changing as it should. Oiling speeds up and evens the darkening. Some owners love it; others want to know upfront.
Common questions: Granite vs. Soapstone
- Does soapstone need to be sealed like granite?
- No. Soapstone is non-porous, so sealing serves no purpose. Granite needs annual sealing to keep liquids from penetrating the pores. If skipping that maintenance step is important to you, soapstone delivers what granite doesn't.
- Which is harder, granite or soapstone?
- Granite by a significant margin. Granite runs 6–7 Mohs; soapstone is 2–3.5. Soapstone scratches relatively easily, though scratches can be sanded out. Granite is far more scratch-resistant.
- Does soapstone handle heat as well as granite?
- Yes, and it has an impressive track record: soapstone has been used for wood stoves and laboratory countertops for generations. Both granite and soapstone handle direct heat well. Neither requires trivets the way engineered quartz does.
- Will soapstone stay gray or darken over time?
- It will darken. Soapstone naturally oxidizes over time, and applying mineral oil speeds up and evens the color change. The final color is typically a deeper charcoal or near-black. Granite holds its color essentially unchanged over decades.
Next step
What to do next
A spec table narrows this down. It rarely settles it. Here is how the Granite against Soapstone question usually gets decided for real.
1. Look at full slabs, not chips
Both of these materials photograph better than they sample. The showroom at 2015 Charleston Hwy in Cayce keeps full slabs on the floor, so you can see a whole piece and where the pattern lands. What is standing there changes with what our suppliers are shipping, so call ahead if you want a particular slab pulled for you.
2. See one of ours in the material you are leaning toward
Our own work, fabricated in the Cayce shop and installed in Midlands homes. Photos of a finished job settle more arguments than a hardness number does.
- Granite: Outdook Kitchen and pizza oven in leathered Steel Gray on Lake Murray in Chapin, or every granite job we have published.
- Soapstone: we have not published a soapstone job on this site yet, so there is nothing of ours to show you in that material. Ask us in the showroom instead.
3. Put a price on it
Send us the kitchen and we will work up a number for the material you are considering. Rough measurements or a cabinet layout are plenty to start with, and the quote arrives with the material cost shown rather than buried in a square foot rate.
Still torn? The full guides go deeper than this page does: Granite and Soapstone.
More comparisons
Rocky Tops Granite & Marble · Cayce, SC
Come see the real difference in person.
Photos and spec tables only go so far. At the showroom we can pull a slab of each material side by side, talk through how you actually cook, and give you a straight recommendation. No pressure, just a real conversation about stone.