The invention relates to a method for cleaning hydrocarbon mixtures, in which a contaminated hydrocarbon mixture comprising hydrocarbons having three to eight carbon atoms is at least partly freed of impurities by contacting with a solid sorbent, wherein the hydrocarbon mixture is exclusively in the liquid state during contact with the sorbent. The object of the invention is to specify a process for cleaning liquid C3 to C8 hydrocarbon mixtures, which is based on a readily available but non-carcinogenic sorbent and which achieves better purities compared to traditional molecular sieves. This object is achieved by using, as sorbents, solid materials of the following composition: copper oxide: 10% to 60% by weight (calculated as CuO); zinc oxide: 10% to 60% by weight (calculated as ZnO); aluminum oxide: 10% to 30% by weight (calculated as Al2O3); other substances: 0% to 5% by weight. Materials of this kind are otherwise used as catalysts in methanol synthesis.