Great advances in photocatalysis have been made by developing various efficient photocatalysts, but investigation on practical applications of photocatalysis is relatively backward. Herein we report a facile surface modification approach to functionalize textiles with excellent ability for photocatalytic self-cleaning and degradation of indoor volatile organic pollutants. Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (CNNS) in colloidal suspension were directly sprayed onto the surface of cellulose fibers in textiles, and the powerful hydrogen bonding action between surface hydroxyl groups of cellulose and plentiful hydroxyl and amino groups of exfoliated CNNS from alkali-treating realizes high stability of CNNS modified textiles. Due to ultrathin 2D thickness and high visible light transparency, the modification of CNNS would not affect the hand feeling of textiles and shield their original colors. The obtained textiles show superior photocatalytic self-cleaning performance to remove stains from various colored pollutants under solar light irradiation, including industrial organic dyes and juices. Meanwhile, gaseous formaldehyde also can be efficiently decomposed using Xe lamp or commercial LED lamp as light sources. This work realizes photocatalytic performance of textiles using a simple spraying method, and it has great potential application in textile self-cleaning, not only for surface stains but also for volatile organic compounds from textile release. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.