Thinking about soapstone? Do your research.

DEAR TIM: A kitchen designer recommended soapstone countertops for my new kitchen. Do you have any experience with soapstone counters or even a soapstone sink? I've never heard of this material and wonder about it. Would you use it in your home? If not, why not? -- Tara M., Montrose, Calif.

DEAR TARA: Soapstone is a natural stone product. It's quarried just like marble or granite. It's a metamorphic rock that contains a relatively high amount of talc, which is why it's called soapstone. If you've ever had a chunk of talc in your hand, your first impression is that it feels soapy.

Knowing this, you should extrapolate that soapstone is somewhat soft. My college major was geology. I clearly remember a lab class when we were testing the hardness of minerals. Talc was one of the softest minerals we had in the lab. It scratched very easily.

As you might expect, Mother Nature can produce soapstone in various grades of hardness. The softest variety is highly prized for sculpting or carving. The hardest soapstone can be used in all sorts of places around homes, businesses or even labs. Hard soapstone has a higher amount of quartz in it.

If you took high school or college chemistry and worked in a laboratory, your lab table was very likely made from soapstone. Its crystalline texture makes it nearly impervious to chemicals or most liquids. That's a great quality for a countertop.

Soapstone seems to have a regional mystique in New England. It's quarried in Vermont, where the Green Mountains are loaded with tons of metamorphic rock, including marble, schists and granite. Many people seem to love a soapstone counter and appreciate the characteristic patina it develops with use.

You can absolutely get a soapstone sink. But I would recommend that you take a look at ones that have been in use for a good three to five years. See how they fare in real everyday use. My guess is that you'll be surprised by what you see, especially if pots and pans have been bouncing around in the sink.

My current home here in New Hampshire has soapstone counters in the kitchen, and I'm not a huge fan of them. The counters scratch easily, and to make them look good all the time you have to regularly coat them with a greasy mineral oil. Even the fabricators of the stone talk about regular oiling to make soapstone counters look good.

I don't know about you, but I try to avoid products that require regular maintenance like that. I've never had to oil my granite tops to make them look good. They shine each day with no care. Every five to ten years I do have to apply a coat of clear sealer to the granite, but it's not greasy and it doesn't get on my clothes.

The best advice I can give you before making a decision as big and final as this is to do a test. The test may cost you less than $100. Go to a soapstone fabricator and buy a trivet. Get a big one -- say, 16 inches square. Place it in a high-use area of your existing countertop. Do things to it that you'll be doing to your new countertops.

Test it to death. Slide cans over it. Drop silverware on it. Use it as a cutting board if you've cut things in the past on your counters. Spill things on it like red wine, grease, etc. and let them sit for hours. See if the liquids soak in and stain the stone. Treat it just like you do your existing counters.

See if the local soapstone provider can tell you three places where soapstone counters have been in use for ten years or more. Try to visit those places to see how they look. Remember, many people love the look of soapstone that works hard each day. I'm just not one of them.

Tim Carter is a columnist for Tribune Media Services. He can be contacted via his Web site, http://www.askthebuilder.com/printer_Submit_Question.shtml.