The contamination of water resources with oil poses a significant threat to both environments and human societies. In particular, the separation of oil from the mixture presents a significant challenge due to immiscible property. In this paper, sol-gel process was used to prepared superhydrophobic coating on cotton fabric which is also oleophilic in nature. The treated fabrics exhibited high superhydrophobicity and achieved an efficiency of (≥ 92%) in separating oils from water, highest separation efficiency was 98%. Examination of all coatings revealed that a combination of (Ti + HMDS + SA) outperformed the rest of the examined coatings, achieving a contact angle of 154.3°. Furthermore, the titania nanoparticles were found to be 300.8 nm in size, which contributed to a lower zeta potential value of − 40.6 mV leading to more stability. To determine the surface morphology SEM technique and for sol characterization, PSA was used. To simulate real-world conditions, the coated fabrics underwent multiple washing cycles. Remarkably, the coating exhibited high stability against external environmental factors, maintaining its functionality and mechanical integrity.