The sodium oleate collector used in malachite flotation usually exhibits low selectivity. By partially replacing sodium oleate with alcohols, this study presents a method for increasing the selectivity of sodium oleate-based collectors in malachite flotation. By combining 3 x 10(-5) mol/L alcohols, such as 1-octanol, 2-ethylhexanol, and alpha-terpineol, with 1 x 10(-5) mol/L sodium oleate, malachite floatability values higher than 98% are achieved. Contact angle and zeta potential measurements reveal that the co-adsorption of alcohols with sodium oleate may be resulted from the hydrophobic interactions between their hydrocarbon chains. The co-adsorption of methyl isobutyl carbinol, along with its shorter hydrocarbon chain, makes it more difficult to render the malachite surface highly hydrophobic. However, the co-adsorption of straight-chain and branched-chain alcohols with sodium oleate shows the ability consistently to induce high malachite floatability.