Public Function MakeSQLSafe(ByVal sql As String) As String
    'first i'd avoid putting quote chars in as they might be valid? just double them up.
    Dim strIllegalChars As String = "/?-^%{}[];$=*`#|&@<>()+,"
    'replace single quotes with double so they don't cause escape character
    If sql.Contains("'") Then
        sql = sql.Replace("'", "''")
    End If
    'need to double up double quotes from what I remember to get them through
    If sql.Contains("""") Then
        sql = sql.Replace("""", """""")
    End If
    'remove illegal chars
    For Each c As Char In strIllegalChars
        If sql.Contains(c.ToString) Then
            sql = sql.Replace(c.ToString, "")
        End If
    Next

    Return sql
End Function

public static string CleanUrl(this string urlpart) {

    // convert accented characters to regular ones
    string cleaned = urlpart.Trim().anglicized();

    // do some pretty conversions
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, "&nbsp;", "-");
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, "#", "no.");
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, "&", "and");
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, "%", "percent");
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, "@", "at");

    // strip all illegal characters like punctuation
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, "[^A-Za-z0-9- ]", "");

    // convert spaces to dashes
    cleaned = Regex.Replace(cleaned, " +", "-");

    // If we're left with nothing after everything is stripped and cleaned
    if (cleaned.Length == 0)
        cleaned = "no-description";

    // return lowercased string
    return cleaned.ToLower();
}

// Convert accented characters to standardized ones
private static string anglicized(this string urlpart) {
    string beforeConversion = "àÀâÂäÄáÁéÉèÈêÊëËìÌîÎïÏòÒôÔöÖùÙûÛüÜçÇ’ñ";
    string afterConversion = "aAaAaAaAeEeEeEeEiIiIiIoOoOoOuUuUuUcC'n";

    string cleaned = urlpart;

    for (int i = 0; i < beforeConversion.Length; i++) {
         cleaned = Regex.Replace(urlpart, afterConversion[i].ToString(), afterConversion[i].ToString());
    }
    return cleaned;

    // Spanish : ÁÉÍÑÓÚÜ¡¿áéíñóúü"

}