Extraction of dyes from aqueous solution was studied using liquid emulsion membrane. Study was carried out using two dyes, namely, crystal violet (CV) and methylene blue (MB). Extraction of single component system of each dye and their binary mixture were investigated. Liquid emulsion membrane was formed using n-heptane as membrane phase, sodium hydroxide solution as the internal phase and dye solution as the external phase. Surfactant span 80 was used as the emulsion stabilizer. Effects of concentration of span 80, concentration of NaOH, stirring speed, composition of feed solution and the volume ratio of the oil phase to the aqueous phase (O/A) were studied in detail both for single and binary system. Maximum extraction of MB was found to be 99% and that for CV was about 95% in single component system. In binary mixture, these values were 97% and 90%, respectively. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.