Borrowings (Senior Secured Notes Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes		May 18, 2012 Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes	Mar. 25, 2011 Libbey Glass Senior Notes Old Senior Secured Notes	Feb. 08, 2010 Libbey Glass Senior Notes Old Senior Secured Notes	Jun. 30, 2012 Libbey Glass Senior Notes Old Senior Secured Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Libbey Glass Senior Notes Old Senior Secured Notes	Jun. 29, 2012 Libbey Glass Senior Notes Old Senior Secured Notes		Dec. 31, 2011 Libbey Glass Senior Notes Old Senior Secured Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Prior to May 15, 2015 Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Redeemable With Proceeds of Equity Offerings Prior to May 15, 2015 Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Contracts Fair Value Hedging Prior to May 15, 2015 Libbey Glass Senior Notes New Senior Secured Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face amount						$ 450,000,000			$ 400,000,000
Deferred finance costs, gross				13,600,000
Interest rate				6.875%	[1]							10.00%	[1]
Debtholders eligible to declare notes due and payable immediately, qualifying % of contemporaneous notes outstanding																	25.00%
Proceeds from issuance of senior secured notes, net									379,800,000
Debt instrument, original issue discount, percentage									1.918%
Unamortized discount	0	4,300,000							7,700,000
Commissions payable, debt offering									10,000,000
Debt instrument, offering fees									2,500,000
Redeemable portion of notes, %															10.00%	35.00%
Redemption price, % of principal								103.00%							103.00%	106.875%
Portion of original principal amount that must remain outstanding after each redemption																65.00%
Notes redeemed, face amount								40,000,000				40,000,000
Deadline for redemption after equity offering																90 days
Minimum time period between redemptions																		12 months
Total borrowings	466,059,000	397,617,000		450,000,000			0				0			360,000,000
Redemption expense								2,800,000
Debt instrument, call premium								1,203,000		23,602,000
Write-off of finance fees and discounts	$ 10,975,000	$ 1,600,000	$ 4,986,000					$ 1,600,000		$ 10,975,000

[1] See Interest Rate Agreements under “Senior Secured Notes” below and in note 13.