Mud. Squished dog dook. Battery acid. The dirty snow. Hawaiian Punch. Count all of these things as items you don’t want within 20 feet of your vehicle’s carpet. You know all about these things, which is why you’ve probably purchased a set of all-weather floor mats, assuming winter is of any consequence in your area. What you may have overlooked, though, is extending that coverage to the rear of your vehicle.

You might think that none of the previously mentioned items have a chance of getting in the back, simply because people aren’t typically walking or standing in the far reaches of your ride. Think again. Ever set a pair of dirty shoes back there after working or playing in the woods or snow? That’s how the mud, black snow and dog log get ground into the carpet. Ever needed to pull a battery? That’s the only place you can set it. Has there ever been a bag of groceries that remained upright the whole way home? Not unless the bag only contained a Handy Case. Hawiaiian Punch everywhere. Your loss in every situation.

When winter strikes, you need a safe zone to set all of those messy items, one with the kind of sturdy shield material that never gets beat. Face it—the mud, the snow and the stepped-in turds are going to happen. You just need a place to contain all of that mess. Think of a custom all-weather cargo mat as your own decontamination zone for virtually any mess. Because they use the right stuff and have the right tall-walled design, you can let almost anything mellow back there until you feel like dealing with it.

It gets even better. After about, oh, six months or so, when you decided to deal with whatever mess is out back, you won’t have to hassle with cleaning the cargo liner, too. Thanks to that same material that keeps messes from soiling your carpet, grime slides right off of an all-weather cargo liner with a quick squirt from your garden hose. Then, it’s ready for the next mud barrage with a fully clean slate.

Many of the same makers of the all-weather floor mats you may already own also make a cargo liner, complete with matching color and material. Brands like Husky Liners, Catch-All, and Weathertech account for the exact shape of your cargo area when crafting a custom cargo liner. Each relies on this molded fit to stay in place, no matter how much jostling is going on in your ride. So, if the winter has bite where you live, don’t rely on just the floor mats in your seating rows to protect your carpet. Make sure your cargo liner is well shielded from a wide array of enemies, too.