Method for preparing 3,7-bis(dimethylamino)phenothiazin-5-ylium iodide, the method resulting in a high purity while being very simple to implement and producing high yields. The method uses phenothiazine as a starting material and includes the following steps: a) treating phenothiazine with diiodine, b) treating the reaction medium directly obtained from step a) with dimethylamine.