diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt
index cb273cc..c9a88cd 100644
--- a/changelog.txt
+++ b/changelog.txt
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@
 
  * FEATURE: Added setConnectTimeout and setReadTimeout for the Request Object
  * FIX: Fixed Evernote Api (uses GET for request and access tokens)
+ * REFACTOR: URLEncoding stuff. LinkedIn specific decoder is no longer needed
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/scribe/builder/api/LinkedInApi.java b/src/main/java/org/scribe/builder/api/LinkedInApi.java
index b02a31e..83f064e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/scribe/builder/api/LinkedInApi.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/scribe/builder/api/LinkedInApi.java
@@ -1,11 +1,7 @@
 package org.scribe.builder.api;
 
-import org.scribe.extensions.linkedin.*;
-import org.scribe.extractors.*;
-
 public class LinkedInApi extends DefaultApi10a
 {
-
   @Override
   protected String getAccessTokenEndpoint()
   {
@@ -17,11 +13,4 @@ public class LinkedInApi extends DefaultApi10a
   {
     return "https://api.linkedin.com/uas/oauth/requestToken";
   }
-  
-  @Override
-  protected BaseStringExtractor getBaseStringExtractor()
-  {
-    return new LinkedInBaseStringExtractorImpl();
-  }
-
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/scribe/extensions/linkedin/LinkedInBaseStringExtractorImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/scribe/extensions/linkedin/LinkedInBaseStringExtractorImpl.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 0413a42..0000000
--- a/src/main/java/org/scribe/extensions/linkedin/LinkedInBaseStringExtractorImpl.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-package org.scribe.extensions.linkedin;
-
-import org.scribe.extractors.*;
-import org.scribe.model.*;
-
-/**
- * LinkedIn's specific extractor that does not encode the tilde character.
- * 
- * @author Pablo Fernandez
- */
-public class LinkedInBaseStringExtractorImpl extends BaseStringExtractorImpl
-{
-
-  /**
-   * {@inheritDoc}
-   */
-  @Override
-  public String extract(OAuthRequest request)
-  {
-    String baseString = super.extract(request);
-    return baseString.replace("%7E", "~");
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtils.java
index 5cf08bd..dc09c51 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtils.java
@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@ public class URLUtils
 
   private static final String ERROR_MSG = String.format("Cannot find specified encoding: %s", UTF_8);
 
+  private static final Set<EncodingRule> ENCODING_RULES;
+
+  static
+  {
+    Set<EncodingRule> rules = new HashSet<EncodingRule>();
+    rules.add(new EncodingRule("*","%2A"));
+    rules.add(new EncodingRule("+","%20"));
+    rules.add(new EncodingRule("%7E", "~"));
+    ENCODING_RULES = Collections.unmodifiableSet(rules);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Turns a map into a form-url-encoded string (key=value&key2=value2)
    * 
@@ -57,7 +68,12 @@ public class URLUtils
     Preconditions.checkNotNull(string, "Cannot encode null string");
     try
     {
-      return URLEncoder.encode(string, UTF_8).replaceAll("\\+", "%20");
+      String encoded = URLEncoder.encode(string, UTF_8);
+      for(EncodingRule rule : ENCODING_RULES)
+      {
+        encoded = rule.apply(encoded);
+      }
+      return encoded;
     } 
     catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee)
     {
@@ -77,9 +93,26 @@ public class URLUtils
     try
     {
       return URLDecoder.decode(string, UTF_8);
-    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee)
+    }
+    catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee)
     {
       throw new OAuthException(ERROR_MSG, uee);
     }
   }
+
+  private static final class EncodingRule
+  {
+    private final String ch;
+    private final String toCh;
+
+    EncodingRule(String ch, String toCh)
+    {
+      this.ch = ch;
+      this.toCh = toCh;
+    }
+
+    String apply(String string) {
+      return string.replace(ch, toCh);
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/scribe/examples/LinkedInExample.java b/src/test/java/org/scribe/examples/LinkedInExample.java
index 8fd1247..daeb77e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/scribe/examples/LinkedInExample.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/scribe/examples/LinkedInExample.java
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ public class LinkedInExample
 
     System.out.println();
     System.out.println("Thats it man! Go and build something awesome with Scribe! :)");
-    
-    System.out.println(service.getRequestToken());
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtilsTest.java
index eae99e5..90c8d11 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtilsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/scribe/utils/URLUtilsTest.java
@@ -8,13 +8,6 @@ import org.junit.*;
 
 public class URLUtilsTest
 {
-
-  @Before
-  public void setup()
-  {
-
-  }
-
   @Test
   public void shouldPercentEncodeMap()
   {
@@ -51,6 +44,23 @@ public class URLUtilsTest
     assertEquals(expected, URLUtils.percentDecode(toDecode));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void shouldEncodeAllSpecialCharacters()
+  {
+    String plain = "!*'();:@&=+$,/?#[]";
+    String encoded = "%21%2A%27%28%29%3B%3A%40%26%3D%2B%24%2C%2F%3F%23%5B%5D";
+    assertEquals(encoded, URLUtils.percentEncode(plain));
+    assertEquals(plain, URLUtils.percentDecode(encoded));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldNotEncodeReservedCharacters()
+  {
+    String plain = "abcde123456-._~";
+    String encoded = plain;
+    assertEquals(encoded, URLUtils.percentEncode(plain));
+  }
+
   @Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
   public void shouldThrowExceptionIfMapIsNull()
   {