diff --git a/lib/excoder.ex b/lib/excoder.ex
index e7d1c33..8b91659 100644
--- a/lib/excoder.ex
+++ b/lib/excoder.ex
@@ -2076,10 +2076,26 @@ defmodule ExCoder do
 
 
 
-    def encode(str) do
-        str
+
+    def encode(str) when is_binary str do
+        String.codepoints(str) |> encode
     end
 
+    def encode([]) do
+        ""
+    end
+
+    def encode([<< codepoint :: utf8 >> | rest]) when codepoint >= 32 and codepoint <= 126 do
+        << codepoint :: utf8 >> <> encode rest
+    end
+
+    def encode([<< codepoint :: utf8 >> | rest]) do
+        "&#x" <> integer_to_binary(codepoint, 16) <> ";" <> encode rest
+    end
+
+
+
+
     defp strip_numeric(str) do
         String.split(str, ";")
     end