A few years ago I saw a code that converted everything to 1s and 0s and it was easy to encode and decode from that but I can't find it.

Bit-wise not (~) applied to a string does exactly that very efficiently:

$s = 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog';;
print unpack 'C*', $s;;
84 104 101 32 113 117 105 99 107 32 98 114 111 119 110 32 102 111 120 
+32 106 117 109 112 115 32 111 118 101 114 32 116 104 101 32 108 97 12
+2 121 32 100 111 103

$t = ~$s;;
print unpack 'C*', $t;;
171 151 154 223 142 138 150 156 148 223 157 141 144 136 145 223 153 14
+4 135 223 149 138 146 143 140 223 144 137 154 141 223 139 151 154 223
+ 147 158 133 134 223 155 144 152


$u = ~$t;;
print unpack 'C*', $u;;
84 104 101 32 113 117 105 99 107 32 98 114 111 119 110 32 102 111 120 
+32 106 117 109 112 115 32 111 118 101 114 32 116 104 101 32 108 97 12
+2 121 32 100 111 103

print $u;;
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
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