Borrowings (ABL Credit Agreement Narrative) (Details) (USD $)			3 Months Ended											3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014 ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member] entity	Dec. 31, 2013 Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Letter of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiary, Libbey Glass [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiaries, Present and Future Direct and Indirect Domestic Subsidiaries of Libbey Glass [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiaries, First-tier Present and Future Foreign Subsidiaries of Libbey Glass [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiary, Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiary, Libbey Europe [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiaries, Dutch Subsidiaries of Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 CB Floating Rate [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Netherlands Swing Line Rate [Member] Line of Credit, Swingline [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Line of Credit [Member] Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit [Member] Subsidiaries, Libbey Glass and Libbey Europe [Member] ABL Facility [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 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]
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
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	413,124,000	413,227,000														0	0
Interest period, minimum																1 month
Interest period, maximum																6 months
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding						6,200,000
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				0
Line of credit facility, remaining borrowing capacity				$ 75,500,000	$ 70,500,000