Restatement of the Consolidated Financial Statements (Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2016	Jan. 31, 2015	Jan. 31, 2014
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cost of sales	$ 191,255	$ 274,907	$ 275,323
Gross profit	66,974	103,246	119,354
Selling, general and administrative expenses	32,574	42,005	38,784
Goodwill impairment loss	11,497	0	0
Long-lived asset impairment loss	3,826	0	0
Operating income	4,391	43,801	63,994
Income before income taxes	4,081
Income taxes (benefit) provision	(767)	11,705	20,721
Net income	4,848	31,796	42,902
Net income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	$ 4,776	$ 31,733	$ 42,903
Net income per common share:
─ Basic (in usd per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.86	$ 1.18
─ Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.86	$ 1.17
Comprehensive income	$ 7,196	$ 28,126	$ 42,818
Comprehensive income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	7,124	$ 28,063	$ 42,819
As Previously Reported [Member]
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cost of sales	192,444
Gross profit	65,785
Selling, general and administrative expenses	32,594
Goodwill impairment loss	7,413
Long-lived asset impairment loss	0
Operating income	11,092
Income before income taxes	10,782
Income taxes (benefit) provision	2,221
Net income	8,561
Net income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	$ 8,489
Net income per common share:
─ Basic (in usd per share)	$ 0.23
─ Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 0.23
Comprehensive income	$ 10,909
Comprehensive income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	10,837
Restatement Adjustments [Member]
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cost of sales	(1,189)
Gross profit	1,189
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(20)
Goodwill impairment loss	4,084
Long-lived asset impairment loss	3,826
Operating income	(6,701)
Income before income taxes	(6,701)
Income taxes (benefit) provision	(2,988)
Net income	(3,713)
Net income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	$ (3,713)
Net income per common share:
─ Basic (in usd per share)	$ (0.10)
─ Diluted (in usd per share)	$ (0.10)
Comprehensive income	$ (3,713)
Comprehensive income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	$ (3,713)