The adsorption of two disperse dyes, disperse blue 56 and disperse red from aqueous solution onto sawdust (SD) and benzyldimethyltetradecyl ammonium (BDTDA) treated sawdust has been studied. The effect of initial concentration of dyes, pH, and contact time has been studied. The pH had a considerable influence on adsorption and optimum pH for adsorption of disperse dyes is found to be in the range of 2 – 3. The experimental data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm equations. The experimental data were fitted well to pseudo first order kinetic model with R2 > 0.99. The results indicate that sawdust modified with surfactant can be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial activated carbon for the removal of disperse dyes.