diff --git a/src/csv/inference.rs b/src/csv/inference.rs
index 3d2acce..a1ec83f 100644
--- a/src/csv/inference.rs
+++ b/src/csv/inference.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,16 @@ impl ColumnInference {
         ColumnInference { columns_to_types }
     }
 
+    /// build column 'inference' with every column artificially inferred as a String
+    pub fn default_inference(csv: &CsvData) -> ColumnInference {
+        let mut columns_to_types: HashMap<String, CsvType> = HashMap::new();
+        for  header in csv.headers.iter() {
+            columns_to_types.insert(String::from(header), CsvType::String);
+        }
+        debug!("Using default column type of string for all columns in file {}: {:?} ", csv.filename, columns_to_types);
+        ColumnInference { columns_to_types }
+    }
+
     /// get the type of a column, referenced by its string name
     pub fn get_type(&self, s: String) -> Option<&CsvType> {
         self.columns_to_types.get(s.as_str())
@@ -58,12 +68,12 @@ mod test {
     }
     #[test]
     fn it_should_recognize_integer_column() {
+        let filename: String = String::from("foo.csv");
         let headers = StringRecord::from(vec!["foo", "bar"]);
         let records = vec![
             StringRecord::from(vec!["entry1", "1"]),
             StringRecord::from(vec!["entry2", "2"]),
         ];
-        let filename = String::from("foo.csv");
         let inference = ColumnInference::from_csv(&CsvData { headers, records, filename });
         assert_eq!(
             inference.get_type(String::from("foo")),
@@ -74,4 +84,23 @@ mod test {
             Some(&CsvType::Numeric)
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn it_should_use_default_column_type_if_inference_disabled() {
+        let headers = StringRecord::from(vec!["foo", "bar"]);
+        let filename: String = String::from("foo.csv");
+        let records = vec![
+            StringRecord::from(vec!["entry1", "1"]),
+            StringRecord::from(vec!["entry2", "2"]),
+        ];
+        let inference = ColumnInference::default_inference(&CsvData { headers, records, filename });
+        assert_eq!(
+            inference.get_type(String::from("foo")),
+            Some(&CsvType::String)
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            inference.get_type(String::from("bar")),
+            Some(&CsvType::String)
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 59ddfae..54b421d 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ struct Opts {
     delimiter: char,
     #[clap(long)]
     trim: bool,
+    #[clap(long)]
+    textonly: bool,
 }
 
 fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
@@ -26,7 +28,8 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
     let query = opts.query;
     let delimiter = opts.delimiter;
     let trim = opts.trim;
-    let options = Options{delimiter, trim};
+    let textonly = opts.textonly;
+    let options = Options{delimiter, trim, textonly};
     let results = execute_query(query.as_str(), &options)?;
     write_to_stdout(results)?;
     Ok(())
diff --git a/src/qsv.rs b/src/qsv.rs
index 59da086..38901f2 100644
--- a/src/qsv.rs
+++ b/src/qsv.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ use log::debug;
 type Rows = Vec<Vec<String>>;
 pub struct Options {
     pub delimiter: char,
-    pub trim: bool
+    pub trim: bool,
+    pub textonly: bool,
 }
 
 ///Executes a query, possibly returning Rows
@@ -53,7 +54,11 @@ fn maybe_load_file(
     debug!("Attempting to load identifier from SQL as file: {}", filename);
     let table_name = path.file_stem(); //TODO: should we canonicalize path?
     let table_name = sanitize(table_name).unwrap_or_else(|| Uuid::new_v4().to_string());
-    let inference = ColumnInference::from_csv(&csv);
+    let inference = if options.textonly {
+        ColumnInference::default_inference(&csv)
+    } else {
+        ColumnInference::from_csv(&csv)
+    };
     let table_parameters = to_table_parameters(&csv, &inference);
     let table_parameters: Vec<&str> = table_parameters.iter().map(|s| s.as_str()).collect();
     let table_name = table_name.as_str();
diff --git a/testdata/sortable_columns.csv b/testdata/sortable_columns.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2415790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/sortable_columns.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+column
+12
+99
+9
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/integration.rs b/tests/integration.rs
index d2efae1..ac45464 100644
--- a/tests/integration.rs
+++ b/tests/integration.rs
@@ -102,3 +102,12 @@ fn it_will_run_with_trim() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     cmd.assert().success();
     Ok(())
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn it_will_run_with_textonly() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let mut cmd = Command::cargo_bin("qsv")?;
+    cmd.arg("select md5(column) from testdata/sortable_columns.csv");
+    cmd.arg("--textonly");
+    cmd.assert().success();
+    Ok(())
+}