A soft grey or greenish stone that feels smooth and slightly slippery when you rub it — a little like a bar of wet soap. That feeling is where the name comes from, and it is the fastest way to remember the word. Because it is soft, you can cut and carve it with simple tools, so it has been used for hundreds of years for small statues, bowls, seals, and ornaments. Inuit carvers in Canada are famous for it. It also holds heat well and does not crack, so people make cooking pots, oven shelves, fireplace parts, and kitchen counters from it. The word is uncountable when you mean the material: 'carved from soapstone', 'a soapstone bowl'. You do not say 'a soapstone' about the material itself, though you can say 'a piece of soapstone'. The word is quiet and factual — no strong feeling attached to it — and you will meet it most in museums, craft shops, and articles about kitchens.

皂石（也叫滑石、凍石）。台灣的雕刻材料店、博物館說明牌上多寫「皂石」或「凍石」；摸起來滑滑的，因此得名。