Dye wastewater due to industrialization, urbanization and academic activities has become one of the most important environmental issues today. Photocatalytic degradation technology is considered as a promising technology for treating dye wastewater due to its advantages of environmental protection and low energy consumption. Herein, titanium dioxide–reduced graphene oxide composites (TiO₂-RGO) were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method to degrade different dyes (methyl orange, methylene blue and rhodamine B) in water. The structure and morphology of TiO₂-RGO were characterized using various technical approaches. The degradation effect of TiO₂-RGO on the dye was in accordance with a first-order kinetic reaction. The degradation rate of TiO₂-6%RGO for methyl orange at 15 min was 1.67 times higher than that of TiO₂, due to the strong electron transport ability and excellent adsorption properties of graphene. TiO₂-6%RGO has better degradation performance for fluorescent dyes and anionic azo dyes. Notably, the degradation rate of methyl orange by TiO₂-6%RGO photocatalysis for 90 min could reach 96.9%. Meanwhile, the TiO₂-6%RGO showed excellent reusability, as the initial degradation rate of 93.2% was maintained after five degradation cycles of methyl orange solution. The present work provides a universal strategy for designing efficient photocatalytic materials.