2020 was a year of misinformation, but careful sifting provided plenty of useful facts. We now know far more about COVID and proper PPE usage than we did at the beginning of the year. Here's a roundup.

It took a demonstration, lit using a black light, to drive home how washing hands with soap kills viruses.

Attention turned to how COVID sticks to various surfaces. Understandably, this study showing how long the virus lives on different materials--plastic, steel, copper, cardboard, air--gained massive traffic.

Next we learned that loud talkers, regardless of what language they speak, spread more airborne germs.

Finally we learned that COVID spreads readily via aerosols, not just droplets.

As people started to get serious about using PPE, we looked at the benefits and drawbacks of using UV lights to kill COVID.

And we learned a ton from healthcare workers' protocols. One handy example was this guide on how to remove protective gloves without contacting the outside of them with your bare hands.

Also useful was seeing the many steps of how healthcare professionals check for a good fit and seal on a respirator mask.

With masks in short supply, re-using them became critical. Luckily, it was discovered that you can sanitize one using a rice cooker or instant pot.

How to prevent your glasses from fogging up when wearing a mask became a massively popular post.

Got a beard? The CDC released a Facial Hairstyle Facemask Compatibility Chart.

As fake facemasks began to proliferate, we looked at how to tell if your 3M N95 face mask is real or counterfeit, starting with price.

Face shields also grew in popularity, and we looked at the quickly-evolving design differences between them.

We were also interested to see: What the most popular face mask in the U.S. is, and other mask statistics.

Perhaps the biggest question of all was: Which face masks are the most/least effective?