diff --git a/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/database.py b/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/database.py
index 23f115b..b8e4774 100644
--- a/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/database.py
+++ b/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/database.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class Database(object):
     def drop_database(self):
         self._send('DROP DATABASE `%s`' % self.db_name)
 
-    def insert(self, model_instances):
+    def insert(self, model_instances, batch_size=1000):
         from six import next
         i = iter(model_instances)
         try:
@@ -45,11 +45,19 @@ class Database(object):
         model_class = first_instance.__class__
         def gen():
             yield self._substitute('INSERT INTO $table FORMAT TabSeparated\n', model_class).encode('utf-8')
-            yield first_instance.to_tsv().encode('utf-8')
-            yield '\n'.encode('utf-8')
+            yield (first_instance.to_tsv() + '\n').encode('utf-8')
+            # Collect lines in batches of batch_size
+            batch = []
             for instance in i:
-                yield instance.to_tsv().encode('utf-8')
-                yield '\n'.encode('utf-8')
+                batch.append(instance.to_tsv())
+                if len(batch) >= batch_size:
+                    # Return the current batch of lines
+                    yield ('\n'.join(batch) + '\n').encode('utf-8')
+                    # Start a new batch
+                    batch = []
+            # Return any remaining lines in partial batch
+            if batch:
+                yield ('\n'.join(batch) + '\n').encode('utf-8')
         self._send(gen())
 
     def count(self, model_class, conditions=None):
diff --git a/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/models.py b/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/models.py
index a077366..6fae876 100644
--- a/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/models.py
+++ b/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/models.py
@@ -154,10 +154,5 @@ class Model(with_metaclass(ModelBase)):
         '''
         Returns the instance's column values as a tab-separated line. A newline is not included.
         '''
-        parts = []
-        for name, field in self._fields:
-            value = field.to_db_string(getattr(self, name), quote=False)
-            parts.append(value)
-        tsv = '\t'.join(parts)
-        logger.debug(tsv)
-        return tsv
+        data = self.__dict__
+        return '\t'.join(field.to_db_string(data[name], quote=False) for name, field in self._fields)
diff --git a/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/utils.py b/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/utils.py
index bcbaf90..e7d6521 100644
--- a/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/utils.py
+++ b/src/infi/clickhouse_orm/utils.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ SPECIAL_CHARS = {
     "'"  : "\\'"
 }
 
+SPECIAL_CHARS_REGEX = re.compile("[" + ''.join(SPECIAL_CHARS.values()) + "]")
+
 
 def escape(value, quote=True):
     '''
@@ -22,8 +24,10 @@ def escape(value, quote=True):
     converts it to one.
     '''
     if isinstance(value, string_types):
-        chars = (SPECIAL_CHARS.get(c, c) for c in value)
-        value = "'" + "".join(chars) + "'" if quote else "".join(chars)
+        if SPECIAL_CHARS_REGEX.search(value):
+            value = "".join(SPECIAL_CHARS.get(c, c) for c in value)
+        if quote:
+            value = "'" + value + "'"
     return text_type(value)