Debt and Credit Lines (Additional Information) (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($)	Feb. 29, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2014 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Amounts due banks	$ 4.2				$ 2.5				$ 4.2	$ 2.5
Deferred financing costs write-off									0.6	0.8
Senior notes	0.0				150.0				0.0	150.0
Unamortized original issue discount	3.5								3.5
Debt Instrument, Fee Amount	5.1								5.1
Long-term Debt	$ 366.0				$ 357.2				$ 366.0	$ 357.2
Long-term debt, weighted-average interest rate	5.78%				6.05%				5.78%	6.05%
Debt issuance costs write-off	$ 1.2	$ 1.7	$ 0.0	$ 0.0	$ 0.6	$ 0.0	$ 0.0	$ 0.0	$ 2.9	$ 0.6	$ 0.8
Long-term debt, fair value	$ 351.7								351.7
Interest Paid									23.2	24.9	30.9
Amortization of deferred financing costs									$ 1.8	2.0	$ 2.3
Line of Credit Facility, Unused Capacity, Commitment Fee Percentage									0.25%
Unused Commitment Fee, Borrowing Less Than 50%	0.375%								0.375%
Term Loan B, Outstanding Principal and Interest									$ 200.0
Restricted cash	$ 155.9								155.9
Foreign Line of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	6.6				17.7				6.6	17.7
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount					0.4					0.4
Term Loan B [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Term Loan B	350.0								350.0
Amounts due banks	$ 3.5				$ 0.0				$ 3.5	$ 0.0
Long-term debt, interest rate	5.25%				4.25%				5.25%	4.25%
Long-term Debt	$ 349.2				$ 0.0				$ 349.2	$ 0.0
Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, interest rate	0.00%				7.875%				0.00%	7.875%
Long-term Debt	$ 0.0				$ 150.0				$ 0.0	$ 150.0
Debt issuance costs write-off									1.2
Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Amounts due banks	0.0				2.0				$ 0.0	2.0
Line of Credit Facility, Frequency of Payments									quarterly
Long-term Debt	0.0				$ 190.0				$ 0.0	$ 190.0
Debt issuance costs write-off									1.7
Term Loan [Member] | New Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Annual principal payments									3.5
Additional borrowing capacity, minimum	$ 85.0								$ 85.0
Fixed charge coverage ratio	5.0								5.0
Senior Leverage Ratio	3.5								3.5
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date									Aug. 26, 2023
Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	$ 90.0								$ 90.0
Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date									Aug. 26, 2021
Line of credit, maximum potential borrowing capacity	$ 140.0								$ 140.0
Fixed charge coverage ratio	1.1								1.1
Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Average excess availability									$ 25.0
Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Commercial and Standby Letters of Credit
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	$ 5.0								5.0
Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Swingline Loans [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	10.0								10.0
Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Domestic Line of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount	0.4								0.4
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity	63.0								63.0
Amended Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] [Domain]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit, maximum potential borrowing capacity	100.0								100.0
Scenario Two [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Average excess availability									50.0
Scenario Three [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Average excess availability									25.0
Performance Chemicals India [Member] | Foreign subsidiaries borrowings [Member] | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Amounts due banks	$ 6.5								$ 6.5
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] | Term Loan [Member] | New Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									1.00%
Eurodollar [Member] | Term Loan [Member] | New Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									4.25%
Eurodollar [Member] | Scenario Two [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									1.50%
Eurodollar [Member] | Scenario Three [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									1.75%
Eurodollar [Member] | If average excess availability is less than $25 million [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									2.00%
Base Rate [Member] | Term Loan [Member] | New Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									3.25%
Base Rate [Member] | Scenario Two [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | New Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									0.50%
Base Rate [Member] | Scenario Three [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									0.75%
Base Rate [Member] | If average excess availability is less than $25 million [Member] | Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									1.00%
Federal Funds Effective Rate [Member] | Term Loan [Member] | New Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, spread on variable rate									0.50%