In this work, the effects of single and combined corona discharge (CD) and biopolymer chitosan treatment (CS) on the sorption properties and dyeability of woolen fabric were studied. Physical and chemical changes on the fiber surface were assessed by using different methods. It has been confirmed that wettability and dyeability of wool were improved after single and combined treatments. The changes in elemental composition of wool fiber surface were followed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The relationship between chemical changes and both wettability and dyeability after CS is discussed. On chitosan treated samples, the color intensity increased uniformly with increasing chitosan concentration. The samples treated with combined treatment (corona/chitosan) had the highest color intensity, due to synergistic effect of the treatments. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 2487-2496, 2010