In the current study, sorption of methylene blue dye (MB) from aqueous solutions, using sawdust modified with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS/SD) has been investigated. Sorption experiments were performed using batch and fixed-bed column systems. The effects of important parameters, such as pH, initial dye concentration, flow rate, and bed depth on the sorption of MB dye have been studied. Thomas and the bed-depth service time model (BDST) were applied for analysis of sorption data and estimating of sorption capacity. In order to drive adsorption isotherms, sorption experiments were conducted in batch mode and the treatment of the obtained data were carried out using the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. Based on the breakthrough analysis obtained from continuous sorption experiments, the highest column capacity of 129.68 mg g(-1) was obtained for the SDS/SD adsorbent. The results of this study indicated that surfactant-modified sawdust is much more effective for basic MB dye removal compared to untreated sawdust (SD) and the exhausted SDS/SD column can be easily regenerated using dilute HCl solution with high performance (>95%). The results of this study also indicated the successful applicability of the introduced adsorbent as a very efficient and cost effective adsorbent for the removal of cationic dye molecules from aqueous wastes.