Abstract: A floor mat, system and method, wherein one embodiment of the mat comprises a nonwoven substrate through which carpet pile fibers are tufted and which also comprises either a foam rubber backing sheet which exhibits the same degree of shrinkage as the carpet pile component or a rubber backing sheet which possesses a strength modulus above about 1,000 pounds per square inch. With such backing sheet requirements either the overall shrinkage of the mat will be even or the backing sheet will be strong enough to compensate for varying degrees of shrinkage between the pile substrate and the backing sheet. The resultant floor mat meets industrial laundry standards of rippling (i.e., curling up) and delaminating (i.e., loosening and ultimate falling out of tufted pile fibers), preferably utilizes a nonwoven carpet pile substrate, and is able to withstand vigorous laundry processes without either damaging the subject rotary washer or centrifugal dryer or becoming damaged itself upon exposure to such harsh conditions.