Borrowings (ABL Credit Agreement Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended													0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member] entity	Dec. 31, 2012 Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Letter of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiaries, Present and Future Direct and Indirect Domestic Subsidiaries of Libbey Glass [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiaries, First-tier Present and Future Foreign Subsidiaries of Libbey Glass [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiary, Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiary, Libbey Europe [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Subsidiaries, Dutch Subsidiaries of Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 CB Floating Rate [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Netherlands Swing Line Rate [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	May 07, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Line of Credit [Member] Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Line of Credit [Member] Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] Subsidiaries, First-Tier Subsidiaries of Libbey Europe and its Dutch Subsidiaries [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Call Premium																			$ 1,300,000	$ 23,602,000	$ 23,602,000
Number of financial institutions participating							4
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity							100,000,000		30,000,000		15,000,000				7,500,000
Security, percent of entity stock										100.00%		100.00%		100.00%		100.00%										100.00%
Security, percent of entity stock, non-voting													100.00%
Security, percent of entity stock, voting													65.00%
Applicable rates																	0.50%	1.50%
Commitment fee percentage						0.375%
Covenant terms, conditional minimum fixed charge coverage ratio	1		1
Covenant, fixed charge coverage ratio, unused borrowing capacity below which covenant is applicable							10,000,000
Additional available borrowing capacity							25,000,000
Total borrowings	430,850,000		430,850,000		466,059,000																	405,000,000	450,000,000	9,800,000	0
Interest period, minimum																								1 month
Interest period, maximum																								6 months
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding									8,700,000
Borrowing base, component of sum, % of eligible accounts receivable							85.00%
Borrowing base, alternative component of sum, % of NOLV of eligible inventory							85.00%
Borrowing base, alternative component of sum, % of eligible inventory							65.00%
Borrowing base, alternative component of sum, amount							75,000,000
Borrowing base, amount of rent reserves offset							700,000
Borrowing base, amount of natrual gas reserves offset							100,000
Line of credit facility, remaining borrowing capacity							68,800,000	68,600,000
Write-off of finance fee & discounts on senior notes and ABL	$ 1,168,000	$ 10,975,000	$ 1,168,000	$ 10,975,000															$ 1,200,000	$ 10,975,000	$ 10,975,000