This work aims to develop a double-sided composite electroplating process for preparing superhydrophobic stainless steel mesh to achieve oil-water separation. A set of self-assembled double-sided composite electroplating setups was established. The stainless steel mesh was sequentially subjected to pre-treatment, electroplating of transition coating, electroplating of working coating, and low surface energy modification, and the stainless steel mesh with good superhydrophobicity was then obtained. The influences of the electroplating parameters including the electroplating voltage, electroplating time, electroplating speed, and electroplating temperature on the surface microstructures and wettability of the stainless steel mesh were investigated. The surface wettability, surface morphologies, chemical compositions and oil-water separation performance of the as-prepared stainless steel mesh were tested and analyzed by contact angle meter, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Fourier transforms infrared spectrum. Cauliflower-like micro/nano rough structures were uniformly formed on the surface of the stainless steel mesh by using the double-sided composite electroplating process. The main components of the electroplating coating were nickel and contains traces of silica nanoparticles. Under the conditions of electroplating temperature of 25 ℃ and electroplating speed of 8 m/min, the contact angle and rolling angle of the superhydrophobic stainless steel mesh were fabricated by electroplating 3 min under 15 V voltage reached 159° and 7°, respectively. The prepared superhydrophobic stainless steel mesh had excellent oil-water separation performance, and the separation efficiencies for hexane, dichloromethane and other oil-water mixtures were larger than 95% and the separation purity is high. The superhydrophobic double-sided stainless steel mesh could be easily and conveniently fabricated by the double-sided composite electroplating process. The superhydrophobic stainless steel mesh can efficiently separate various oil-water mixtures and has promising application prospects in the treatment for oil at sea.