Viscose and wool fabrics were modified by the insertion of the metal organic framework copper(II) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Cu-BTC MOF) through two different techniques, ex situ (ex-Cu-BTC@fabric) and in situ (Cu-BTC@fabric), and the obtained new materials used to remove phenol from petroleum fractions. The copper and MOF contents were, respectively, 32.3-34.5 mg g(-1) and 102.1-110.0 mg g(-1) for in situ, and 15.6-17.3 mg g-1 and 50.0-55.2 mg g(-1), for ex situ modified fabrics. The efficiency of phenol removal from n-octane was followed the order of fabric < ex-Cu-BTC@fabric < Cu-BTC@fabric and viscose fabric exhibited much higher affinity. The highest phenol removal percentage (90%) was attained after 12 h contact time. The maximum adsorption capacity was 333 mg g(-1) for Cu-BTC@viscose and 306 mg g(-1) after 6 successive recovering cycles. The adsorption was pseudo-second order and well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption mechanism may occur via the (i) physical deposition into the Cu-BTC pores, (ii) hydrogen bonding between the phenol by droxy groups and those of cellulose, and (iii) Cu(II) phenol chelation. The results showed that the insertion of Cu-BTC MOF into natural fabrics is a promising way to effectively remove phenols from fuel. 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.