A process for producing a liquid formulation of salts of sulfonated azo dyes by coupling an at least equimolar amount of diazotized aminoarylsulfonic acids I H2N—Ar—SO3H  (I), where Ar is phenylene (which may be monosubstituted by sulfo) or naphthylene (which may be mono- or disubstituted by sulfo and/or monosubstituted by hydroxyl) onto the coupling product of an unsubstituted or methyl-substituted phenylenediamine with itself comprises dissolving the azo dye in a basic medium and then subjecting the solution to a nanofiltration.