Divestiture - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011 Lydall Industrial Thermal Solutions Inc	Jun. 29, 2011 Lydall Industrial Thermal Solutions Inc
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of Affinity business in cash			$ 15,200,000
Gain on sale of Affinity business, net of transaction cost and income taxes	$ 3,857,000	$ 3,900,000

Amount of gain (loss), after tax expense or benefit and not previously recognized, resulting from the sale of a business component.

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-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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