The chromatographic behavior of some polar organic dyes and dye intermediates on thin layers of various forms of cationic and anionic exchange resins has been investigated. The results of this study indicate that the stationary ion and the mobile ion of both types of exchangers greatly affect both the level of tailing and the Rf values of the adsorbed compounds. It is also clear from this study that these resins are more suitable for evaluating the relatively simple dyes containing an S03Na group than the higher molecular weight polyazo direct dyes used on cellulosic substrates, and that the Li+ and H+ forms of the cation exchangers work better than their counterparts. On the other hand, cationic dye molecules require the use of anion exchangers, with the -0Ac form giving better chromatograms than the ClO4-form.