A simple and safe one-step immersion method was developed to obtain the stable superhydrophobic copper surfaces with excellent corrosion resistance ability using fatty acids in water-medium instead of ethanol. An organic alkali, N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine (DMCHA), was chosen to solve the poor solubility of fatty acids in water and the high Krafft point of carboxylate salts with inorganic counterions. The superhydrophobic property can be realized in a much quicker process (7.5 mm) in aqueous solution than in ethanol (more than 2 d), which is universally feasible for the fabrication of superhydrophobic metal surfaces in industry scale, thereby greatly increasing the safety in industrial manufacture. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.