Looking high and low in the Chicago, IL area for soapstone and coming up short in supply and general knowledge among suppliers. Feedback I've gotten is it's light grey and doesn't turn black (huh??), that it's bad for kitchen countertops and on... I know that's not true and I'm determined to find it. Finally, came across a supplier with a variety called "Azul Pedreira." They had a slab with half of it oiled, other half chalky and grey, and it looked great to me. But I have no idea if this is real soapstone or another material like granite. Searches online have also come up short with the exception of Brazilian sites, but unfortunately I don't know Portugese. Really important to me to get genuine soapstone. I've seen posts asking about other varieties, but not this. Have you heard of/know about this variety? Is it the real deal?

 

Dear Susan:

The short answer is that I have not the faintest idea. L

I never even heard of such an animal under that name, and after having done some research, that stone does not even exist – at least not under that name.

I highly doubt that it could be any of the mercantile granites on the market, however.

Unfortunately, since the stone industry is totally unregulated on the matter of stone classifications, I don't think that anybody could ever offer a credible answer to your question, unless a mineralogy test is conducted on that stone. Only the quarry would know for sure, but since nobody cares to enforce the law of the land that unmistakably states that every stone should be clearly classified and credible technical specifications supplied, if they care to sell it as soapstone, nobody is there to check them out and stop them, should it turn out that's is not soapstone.

 

Welcome to the stone industry, where operators are getting away with consumer fraud every day and nobody is doing anything about it!

 

The only suggestion I can give you is try to scratch it with your fingernails. (Well, maybe your DH… You have to apply some pressure to scratch it and you don't want to ruin your perfectly done nails, do you?... J ) If it scratches, good chances are that's soapstone. If it doesn't, it may not be.

 

Needless to say, none of this would ever be a problem if marblecleaning.org could have its ways.

But we need the support of the consumers to succeed, because nobody could ever regulate the industry establishment from within. They're making too much money the way they run the show now.

On that spirit and for that purpose, may I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri zio Bertoli

 

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