diff --git a/smack-experimental/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashManager.java b/smack-experimental/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashManager.java
index 29fac9310..ec8423cb7 100644
--- a/smack-experimental/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashManager.java
+++ b/smack-experimental/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashManager.java
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@ package org.jivesoftware.smackx.hashes;
 import org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.Manager;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.XMPPConnection;
+import org.jivesoftware.smack.util.StringUtils;
 import org.jivesoftware.smackx.disco.ServiceDiscoveryManager;
 import org.jivesoftware.smackx.hashes.element.HashElement;
 
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.math.BigInteger;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
 import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
@@ -194,6 +196,10 @@ public final class HashManager extends Manager {
         return getMessageDigest(algorithm).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] hash(ALGORITHM algorithm, String data) {
+        return hash(algorithm, utf8(data));
+    }
+
     public static MessageDigest getMessageDigest(ALGORITHM algorithm) {
         MessageDigest md;
         try {
@@ -253,58 +259,226 @@ public final class HashManager extends Manager {
         return getMessageDigest(MD5).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] md5(String data) {
+        return md5(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String md5HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(md5(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String md5HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(md5(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha_1(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA_1).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha_1(String data) {
+        return sha_1(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_1HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha_1(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_1HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha_1(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha_224(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA_224).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha_224(String data) {
+        return sha_224(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_224HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha_224(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_224HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha_224(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha_256(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA_256).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha_256(String data) {
+        return sha_256(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_256HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha_256(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_256HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha_256(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha_384(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA_384).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha_384(String data) {
+        return sha_384(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_384HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha_384(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_384HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha_384(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha_512(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA_512).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha_512(String data) {
+        return sha_512(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_512HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha_512(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha_512HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha_512(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha3_224(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA3_224).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha3_224(String data) {
+        return sha3_224(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_224HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha3_224(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_224HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha3_224(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha3_256(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA3_256).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha3_256(String data) {
+        return sha3_256(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_256HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha3_256(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_256HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha3_256(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha3_384(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA3_384).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha3_384(String data) {
+        return sha3_384(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_384HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha3_384(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_384HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha3_384(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] sha3_512(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(SHA3_512).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] sha3_512(String data) {
+        return sha3_512(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_512HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(sha3_512(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String sha3_512HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(sha3_512(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] blake2b160(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(BLAKE2B160).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] blake2b160(String data) {
+        return blake2b160(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String blake2b160HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(blake2b160(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String blake2b160HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(blake2b160(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] blake2b256(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(BLAKE2B256).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] blake2b256(String data) {
+        return blake2b256(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String blake2b256HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(blake2b256(data));
+    }
+
+    public static String blake2b256HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(blake2b256(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] blake2b384(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(BLAKE2B384).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] blake2b384(String data) {
+        return blake2b384(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public String blake2b384HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(blake2b384(data));
+    }
+
+    public String blake2b384HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(blake2b384(data));
+    }
+
     public static byte[] blake2b512(byte[] data) {
         return getMessageDigest(BLAKE2B512).digest(data);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] blake2b512(String data) {
+        return blake2b512(utf8(data));
+    }
+
+    public String blake2b512HexString(byte[] data) {
+        return hex(blake2b512(data));
+    }
+
+    public String blake2b512HexString(String data) {
+        return hex(blake2b512(data));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Encode a byte array in HEX.
      * @param hash
@@ -314,4 +488,12 @@ public final class HashManager extends Manager {
         return new BigInteger(1, hash).toString(16);
     }
 
+    public static byte[] utf8(String data) {
+        try {
+            return data.getBytes(StringUtils.UTF8);
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            throw new AssertionError(e);
+        }
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashElementTest.java b/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashElementTest.java
index a9b1d6af6..43bd522f4 100644
--- a/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashElementTest.java
+++ b/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashElementTest.java
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ import org.jivesoftware.smackx.hashes.element.HashElement;
 import org.jivesoftware.smackx.hashes.provider.HashElementProvider;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import static junit.framework.TestCase.assertEquals;
 import static org.jivesoftware.smackx.hashes.HashManager.ALGORITHM.SHA_256;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertArrayEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static junit.framework.TestCase.assertEquals;
 
 /**
  * Test toXML and parse of HashElement and HashElementProvider.
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class HashElementTest extends SmackTestSuite {
     @Test
     public void stanzaTest() throws Exception {
         String message = "Hello World!";
-        HashElement element = HashManager.calculateHashElement(SHA_256, message.getBytes(StringUtils.UTF8));
+        HashElement element = HashManager.calculateHashElement(SHA_256, HashManager.utf8(message));
         String expected = "<hash xmlns='urn:xmpp:hashes:2' algo='sha-256'>f4OxZX/x/FO5LcGBSKHWXfwtSx+j1ncoSt3SABJtkGk=</hash>";
         assertEquals(expected, element.toXML().toString());
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public class HashElementTest extends SmackTestSuite {
         assertEquals(expected, parsed.toXML().toString());
         assertEquals(SHA_256, parsed.getAlgorithm());
         assertEquals("f4OxZX/x/FO5LcGBSKHWXfwtSx+j1ncoSt3SABJtkGk=", parsed.getHashB64());
-        assertArrayEquals(HashManager.sha_256(message.getBytes(StringUtils.UTF8)), parsed.getHash());
+        assertArrayEquals(HashManager.sha_256(message), parsed.getHash());
 
         assertFalse(parsed.equals(expected));
         assertFalse(parsed.equals(null));
diff --git a/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashTest.java b/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashTest.java
index a24ed05c3..890946306 100644
--- a/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashTest.java
+++ b/smack-experimental/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/hashes/HashTest.java
@@ -17,11 +17,8 @@
 package org.jivesoftware.smackx.hashes;
 
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.test.util.SmackTestSuite;
-import org.jivesoftware.smack.util.StringUtils;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
-
 import static junit.framework.TestCase.assertEquals;
 
 /**
@@ -49,11 +46,7 @@ public class HashTest extends SmackTestSuite {
 
     private byte[] array() {
         if (testArray == null) {
-            try {
-                testArray = testString.getBytes(StringUtils.UTF8);
-            } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
-                throw new AssertionError("UTF8 MUST be supported.");
-            }
+            testArray = HashManager.utf8(testString);
         }
         return testArray;
     }