Lentinus edodes CCB-42 was immobilized in loofa sponges and applied to the biosorption of the synthetic dyes congo red, bordeaux red and methyl violet. Live immobilized microorganisms achieved average decolorations of congo red, bordeaux red and methyl violet of 97.8, 99.7 and 90.6 %, respectively. The loofa sponge was the support and the coadjuvant promoting dye adsorption. The biosorption conditions were optimized for each dye, yielding 30 °C, pH 5.0 and a 12 h reaction time for congo red; 25 °C, pH 3.0 and 36 h for bordeaux red; and 25 °C, pH 8.0 and 24 h for methyl violet. Operational stability was evaluated over five consecutive cycles, with both bordeaux red and congo red exhibiting decolorations above 90 %, while the decoloration of methyl violet decreased after the third cycle. In the sixth month of storage, congo red, bordeaux red and methyl violet had decolorations of 93.1, 79.4 and 73.8 %, respectively. Biosorption process best fit the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models. Maximum biosorption capacity of heat-treated L. edodes immobilized in loofa sponge was determined as 143.678, 500.00 and 381.679 mg/g for congo red, bordeaux red and methyl violet, respectively. Treatment with immobilized L. edodes reduced the phytotoxicity of the medium containing dyes. FT-Raman experiments suggested the occurrence of interactions between loofa sponge fibers, L. edodes and dye. L. edodes CCB-42 immobilized in loofa sponges represents a promising new mode of treatment of industrial effluents.