Earnings Per Share (EPS) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Basic EPS [Abstract]
Income from continuing operations attributable to MTI	$ 23,600	$ 22,600	$ 22,700	$ 20,300	$ 19,100	$ 19,700	$ 20,700	$ 19,200	$ 86,074	$ 76,597	$ 70,053
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to MTI	0	0	(5,000)	(700)	(900)	(500)	(500)	(600)	(5,744)	(2,450)	(2,532)
Net income attributable to Minerals Technologies Inc. (MTI)	22,600	21,900	17,100	18,700	17,700	18,600	19,700	18,000	80,330	74,147	67,521
Weighted average shares outstanding (in shares)									34,690,000	35,340,000	36,018,000
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to MTI (in dollars per share)	$ 0.66	$ 0.63	$ 0.63	$ 0.56	$ 0.53	$ 0.54	$ 0.57	$ 0.53	$ 2.48	$ 2.17	$ 1.94
Basic loss per share from discontinued operations attributable to MTI (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ (0.14)	$ (0.02)	$ (0.03)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.02)	$ (0.17)	$ (0.07)	$ (0.07)
Basic earnings per share attributable to MTI (in dollars per share)	$ 0.66	$ 0.63	$ 0.49	$ 0.54	$ 0.50	$ 0.53	$ 0.56	$ 0.51	$ 2.31	$ 2.10	$ 1.87
Diluted EPS [Abstract]
Income from continuing operations attributable to MTI	23,600	22,600	22,700	20,300	19,100	19,700	20,700	19,200	86,074	76,597	70,053
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to MTI	0	0	(5,000)	(700)	(900)	(500)	(500)	(600)	(5,744)	(2,450)	(2,532)
Net income (loss) attributable to MTI	$ 22,600	$ 21,900	$ 17,100	$ 18,700	$ 17,700	$ 18,600	$ 19,700	$ 18,000	$ 80,330	$ 74,147	$ 67,521
Weighted average shares outstanding (in shares)									34,690,000	35,340,000	36,018,000
Dilutive effect of stock options (in shares)									286,000	189,000	218,000
Weighted average shares outstanding, adjusted (in shares)									34,976,000	35,529,000	36,236,000
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to MTI (in dollars per share)	$ 0.65	$ 0.63	$ 0.63	$ 0.55	$ 0.53	$ 0.54	$ 0.57	$ 0.53	$ 2.46	$ 2.16	$ 1.93
Diluted loss per share from discontinued operations attributable to MTI (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ (0.14)	$ (0.02)	$ (0.03)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.02)	$ (0.16)	$ (0.07)	$ (0.07)
Diluted earnings per share attributable to MTI (in dollars per share)	$ 0.65	$ 0.63	$ 0.49	$ 0.53	$ 0.50	$ 0.53	$ 0.56	$ 0.51	$ 2.30	$ 2.09	$ 1.86
Stock Options [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Anti-dilutive securities not included in the weighted average commons shares outstanding calculation (in shares)									0	2,404	218,064