Consolidated Statements Of Earnings (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 01, 2011	Jan. 02, 2010
Consolidated Statements Of Earnings [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 2,854.2	$ 2,619.2	$ 2,362.5
Cost of goods sold	(1,516.3)	(1,408.1)	(1,304.9)
Gross profit	1,337.9	1,211.1	1,057.6
Operating expenses	(953.7)	(894.1)	(824.4)
Operating earnings before financial services	384.2	317.0	233.2
Financial services revenue	124.3	62.3	58.3
Financial services expenses	(51.4)	(47.9)	(40.8)
Operating earnings from financial services before arbitration settlement	72.9	14.4	17.5
Arbitration settlement	18.0
Operating earnings from financial services	90.9	14.4	17.5
Operating earnings	475.1	331.4	250.7
Interest expense	(61.2)	(54.8)	(47.7)
Other income (expense) - net	(1.0)	0.8	2.3
Earnings before income taxes and equity earnings	412.9	277.4	205.3
Income tax expense	(133.7)	(87.6)	(62.7)
Earnings before equity earnings	279.2	189.8	142.6
Equity earnings, net of tax	4.6	3.2	1.1
Net earnings	283.8	193.0	143.7
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(7.5)	(6.5)	(9.5)
Net earnings attributable to Snap-on Incorporated	$ 276.3	$ 186.5	$ 134.2
Net earnings per share attributable to Snap-on Incorporated:
Basic	$ 4.75	$ 3.22	$ 2.33
Diluted	$ 4.71	$ 3.19	$ 2.32
Weighted-average shares outstanding:
Basic	58.2	58.0	57.7
Effect of dilutive options	0.5	0.4	0.2
Diluted	58.7	58.4	57.9