diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4506f2d..d72c1c9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,12 +10,16 @@ A simple library to encode/decode URL parameters.
 This library was extracted from the [RIFE2 Web Application Framework](https://rife2.com).  
 A Kotlin version can also be found at [https://github.com/ethauvin/urlencoder](https://github.com/ethauvin/urlencoder).
 
-For decades, we've been using [java.net.URLEncoder](https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/net/URLEncoder.html)
+For decades, we've been using `[java.net.URLEncoder](https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/net/URLEncoder.html)
 because of its improper naming. It is actually intended to encode HTML form
-parameters, not URLs.
+parameters, not URLs, causing the wrong escape sequences to be used.
+
+Additionally, java.net.URLEncoder allocates memory even when no encoding is
+necessary, significantly impacting performance. This library has a negligible
+performance impact when the string that is passed in doesn't need to be encoded.
 
 Android's [Uri.encode](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/net/Uri#encode(java.lang.String,%20java.lang.String))
-also addresses this issue.
+also addresses these issues.
 
 ## Examples (TL;DR)
 
diff --git a/lib/src/main/java/com/uwyn/urlencoder/UrlEncoder.java b/lib/src/main/java/com/uwyn/urlencoder/UrlEncoder.java
index d751011..080af04 100644
--- a/lib/src/main/java/com/uwyn/urlencoder/UrlEncoder.java
+++ b/lib/src/main/java/com/uwyn/urlencoder/UrlEncoder.java
@@ -126,6 +126,20 @@ public final class UrlEncoder {
         return out.toString();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Transforms a provided <code>String</code> object into a new string,
+     * containing only valid URL characters in the UTF-8 encoding.
+     *
+     * @param source The string that has to be transformed into a valid URL
+     *               string.
+     * @return The encoded <code>String</code> object.
+     * @see #decode(String)
+     * @since 1.0
+     */
+    public static String encode(String source) {
+        return encode(source, (String)null);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Transforms a provided <code>String</code> object into a new string,
      * containing only valid URL characters in the UTF-8 encoding.
@@ -162,7 +176,7 @@ public final class UrlEncoder {
         var i = 0;
         while(i < source.length()) {
             ch = source.charAt(i);
-            if (isUnreservedUriChar(ch) || allow.indexOf(ch) != -1) {
+            if (isUnreservedUriChar(ch) || (allow != null && allow.indexOf(ch) != -1)) {
                 if (out != null) {
                     out.append(ch);
                 }