In the present study, a class of melamine-modified hydrogels were prepared for use as dye removal adsorbents from aqueous solutions. In the first step, poly(itaconic acid-co-maleic anhydride) and poly(vinyl acetate-co-maleic anhydride) were synthesized. Then the copolymers were modified by melamine to prepare the final adsorbents. The adsorbents were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The dye removal studies were then carried out for the adsorbents and different parameters were investigated in order to reach an optimized condition for each of the adsorbents.