Abstract: The surface of a bathing fixture or a water sports device can be made wet-slip resistant by providing on the surface spaced, raised, flat topped, sharp-edged contour elements of polymeric material. These are normally uncomfortable to stand or sit on by reason of the sharp edges bearing against bare skin. Comfort is provided by automatic and selective dulling of those edges on which body weight is placed. This is accomplished by the use of polymeric material within a certain Shore Durometer hardness range which is predeterminable as a function of a thickness range of the elements between 0.1 and 1.5 mm.

Abstract: Bathing fixtures, such as bathtubs and shower receptors and devices such as diving boards and surfboards, are provided with a contoured surface, at least within an area on which a person normally sits or stands, to provide within such area a great number of alternate, raised and depressed surface portions bounded by sharp edges which break down slip-promoting liquid film. The depressions are substantially flat bottomed, very shallow and operate to support a portion of the bather's weight, the portion varying between a lesser weight percentage during the period a bather begins to transfer weight onto the contoured surface, this being the period during which the danger of slipping is greatest, and a greater weight percentage during the subsequent period during which the contoured surface supports the bather's full weight.