diff --git a/lib/ymlr/encode.ex b/lib/ymlr/encode.ex
index c2a6301..cc32ab5 100644
--- a/lib/ymlr/encode.ex
+++ b/lib/ymlr/encode.ex
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ defmodule Ymlr.Encode do
     ":"
   ]
 
+  @escape_chars ~c"\b\f\r\v\0\"\\"
+  @escape_char_mapping Enum.zip(@escape_chars, ~c"bfrv0\"\\")
+  @unicode_char_mapping (Enum.to_list(0x00..0x1F) ++ Enum.to_list(0x7F..0xFF)) |> Enum.reject(&Kernel.in(&1, '\n\t' ++ @escape_chars))
+  @require_double_quotes Enum.map(~c"\b\f\r\v\0"++@unicode_char_mapping, &(<< &1 >>)) |>dbg
+
   @doc ~S"""
   Encodes the given data as YAML string. Raises if it cannot be encoded.
 
@@ -146,6 +151,7 @@ defmodule Ymlr.Encode do
   defp encode_binary(data, indent_level) do
     cond do
       data == "" -> ~S('')
+      data == "~" -> ~S('~')
       data == "\n" -> ~S("\n")
       data == "null" -> ~S('null')
       data == "yes" -> ~S('yes')
@@ -155,6 +161,7 @@ defmodule Ymlr.Encode do
       data == "True" -> ~S('True')
       data == "False" -> ~S('False')
       String.contains?(data, "\n") -> multiline(data, indent_level)
+      String.contains?(data, @require_double_quotes) -> with_double_quotes(data)
       String.at(data, 0) in @quote_when_first -> with_quotes(data)
       String.at(data, -1) in @quote_when_last -> with_quotes(data)
       String.starts_with?(data, "- ") -> with_quotes(data)
@@ -186,18 +193,34 @@ defmodule Ymlr.Encode do
 
   defp with_quotes(data) do
     if String.contains?(data, "'") do
-      ~s("#{escape(data)}")
+      with_double_quotes(data)
     else
-      ~s('#{data}')
+      with_single_quotes(data)
     end
   end
+  defp with_double_quotes(data) do
+    ~s("#{escape(data)}")
+  end
+
+  defp with_single_quotes(data), do: ~s('#{data}')
 
   defp escape(data) do
-    data
-    |> String.replace("\\", "\\\\")
-    |> String.replace(~S("), ~S(\"))
+    for << char::utf8 <- data >> do
+      escape_char(char)
+    end
   end
 
+  for {char, escaped} <- @escape_char_mapping do
+    defp escape_char(unquote(char)), do: << ?\\, unquote(escaped) >>
+  end
+
+  for uchar <- @unicode_char_mapping do
+    unicode_sequence = List.to_string(:io_lib.format("\\u~4.16.0B", [uchar]))
+    defp escape_char(unquote(uchar)), do: unquote(unicode_sequence)
+  end
+
+  defp escape_char(char), do: char
+
   # for example for map keys
   defp multiline(data, nil), do: inspect(data)
   # see https://yaml-multiline.info/
diff --git a/test/ymlr/encode_test.exs b/test/ymlr/encode_test.exs
index d673392..3361903 100644
--- a/test/ymlr/encode_test.exs
+++ b/test/ymlr/encode_test.exs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ defmodule Ymlr.EncodeTest do
     test "quoted strings - avoid type confusion" do
       assert_identity_and_output("yes", ~S('yes'))
       assert_identity_and_output("no", ~S('no'))
+      assert_identity_and_output("~", "'~'")
       assert_identity_and_output("true", ~S('true'))
       assert_identity_and_output("false", ~S('false'))
       assert_identity_and_output("True", ~S('True'))
@@ -115,27 +116,18 @@ defmodule Ymlr.EncodeTest do
     # https://yaml.org/spec/1.2.2/#example-escaped-characters
     test "quoted strings - example-escaped-characters from 1.2.2 spec" do
       assert_identity_and_output("Fun with \\", "Fun with \\")
-    end
-
-    test "quoted strings - in map key (requires escape char)" do
-      assert_identity_and_output(%{"a\tb" => "value"}, ~s(a\tb: value))
-    end
-
-    @tag skip: "Identity test fails"
-    test "Special bytes" do
-      assert_identity_and_output(%{"a\rb" => "value"}, ~s(a\rb: value))
-      assert_identity_and_output("\n \r \t \u000b \u0000", "|-\n\n   \r \t \v \0")
-
+      assert_identity_and_output("\r \t \u000b \u0000", "\"\\r \t \\v \\0\"")
       assert_identity_and_output(
         "\u0020 \u00a0 \u0085 \u2028 \u2029",
-        <<32, 32, 194, 160, 32, 194, 133, 32, 226, 128, 168, 32, 226, 128, 169>>
+        "\"  \\u00A0 \\u0085 \u2028 \u2029\""
       )
+      assert_identity_and_output("\" \u0007 \b \u001b \f", "\"\\\" \\u0007 \\b \\u001B \\f\"")
+      assert_identity_and_output("\r \t \u000b \u0000", "\"\\r \t \\v \\0\"")
     end
 
-    @tag skip: "YamlElixir throws a parsing Error"
-    test "Special bytes 2" do
-      assert_identity_and_output("\" \u0007 \b \u001b \f", "'\" \a \b \e \f'")
-      assert_identity_and_output("\r \t \u000b \u0000", "'\r \t \v \0'")
+    test "quoted strings - in map key (requires escape char)" do
+      assert_identity_and_output(%{"a\tb" => "value"}, ~s(a\tb: value))
+      assert_identity_and_output(%{"a\rb" => "value"}, ~s("a\\rb": value))
     end
 
     test "newline in map key" do