Earnings per share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018	Jul. 01, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jul. 01, 2017	May 12, 2015
Earnings Per Share, Basic, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Net earnings attributable to Mohawk Industries, Inc.	$ 196,586	$ 260,681	$ 405,352	$ 461,235
Accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0	(305)	0
Net earnings available to common stockholders	$ 196,586	$ 260,681	$ 405,047	$ 461,235
Weighted-average common shares outstanding-basic and diluted:
Weighted-average common shares outstanding-basic (in shares)	74,597	74,327	74,525	74,269
Add weighted-average dilutive potential common shares-options to purchase common shares and RSUs, net (in shares)	340	474	403	504
Weighted-average common shares outstanding-diluted (in shares)	74,937	74,801	74,928	74,773
Earnings per share attributable to Mohawk Industries, Inc.
Basic (in usd per share)	$ 2.64	$ 3.51	$ 5.44	$ 6.21
Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 2.62	$ 3.48	$ 5.41	$ 6.17
KAI Group [Member]
Earnings Per Share, Basic, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Percentage of voting interests acquired					90.00%

Percentage of voting equity interests acquired at the acquisition date in the business combination.

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