Basis of Financial Statement Presentation (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Lydall, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All financial information is unaudited for the interim periods reported. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The operating results of the Life Sciences Vital Fluids business have been included in the Consolidated Statement of Operations through the date of disposition, January 30, 2015. The year-end Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet was derived from the December 31, 2015 audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Management believes that all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods reported, have been included. For further information, refer to the audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In June 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-12, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period". This ASU affects entities that grant their employees share-based payments in which terms of the award provide that a performance target that affects vesting could be achieved after the requisite service period. The amendments in this ASU require that a performance target that affects vesting and that could be achieved after the requisite service period be treated as a performance condition. This ASU was effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. The adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements and disclosures. In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-17, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes". This ASU requires an entity to classify all deferred tax assets and liabilities, along with any related valuation allowance, as noncurrent on the balance sheet. The current requirement that deferred tax liabilities and assets of a tax-paying component of an entity be offset and presented as a single amount is not affected by the amendments in this ASU. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this standard prospectively during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. The adoption of this standard resulted in the reclassification of $4.6 million from current deferred income tax assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2016 to noncurrent deferred income tax assets. Prior periods were not retrospectively adjusted. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)". This ASU requires entities that lease assets with lease terms of more than 12 months to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities created by those leases on their balance sheets. The ASU will also require new qualitative and quantitative disclosures to help investors and other financial statement users better understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the method and impact the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and disclosures. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing". This ASU clarifies the following two aspects of Topic 606: identifying performance obligations and the licensing implementation guidance, while retaining the related principles for those areas. The effective date for this ASU is the same as the effective date for ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)". In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date", which deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company is currently evaluating the method and impact the adoption of ASU 2016-10 will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and disclosures. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, "Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting". This ASU simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, classification on the statement of cash flows, and accounting for forfeitures. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this accounting standard update effective January 1, 2016. As a result of the adoption of this ASU, the Company recognized excess tax benefits from first quarter 2016 stock award exercises and vesting as a discrete tax benefit of $0.3 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. In addition, as a result of this change, excess tax benefits were excluded from the calculation of assumed proceeds in the Company’s calculation of diluted weighted shares. The Company’s diluted weighted shares outstanding as of March 31, 2016 increased 28,027 shares due to adoption of this amendment. Within the statement of cash flows, excess tax benefits of $0.3 million are included in net income and are therefore classified as an operating activity. The Company applied these changes prospectively, and therefore prior periods have not been adjusted. As permitted by this ASU, the Company has made an accounting policy election to record forfeitures as they occur rather than estimating expected forfeitures and, as a result, the cumulative effect of this change in accounting principle of $0.1 million was recorded as an adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2016. The ASU permits equity classification of awards for tax withholding up to the maximum individual tax rate in a given jurisdiction for the net settlement of an award. As of March 31, 2016 the Company did not have liability classified awards and is currently evaluating its policy on tax withholding for award net settlement.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-12, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period". This ASU affects entities that grant their employees share-based payments in which terms of the award provide that a performance target that affects vesting could be achieved after the requisite service period. The amendments in this ASU require that a performance target that affects vesting and that could be achieved after the requisite service period be treated as a performance condition. This ASU was effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. The adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-17, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes". This ASU requires an entity to classify all deferred tax assets and liabilities, along with any related valuation allowance, as noncurrent on the balance sheet. The current requirement that deferred tax liabilities and assets of a tax-paying component of an entity be offset and presented as a single amount is not affected by the amendments in this ASU. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this standard prospectively during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. The adoption of this standard resulted in the reclassification of $4.6 million from current deferred income tax assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2016 to noncurrent deferred income tax assets. Prior periods were not retrospectively adjusted.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)". This ASU requires entities that lease assets with lease terms of more than 12 months to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities created by those leases on their balance sheets. The ASU will also require new qualitative and quantitative disclosures to help investors and other financial statement users better understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the method and impact the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing". This ASU clarifies the following two aspects of Topic 606: identifying performance obligations and the licensing implementation guidance, while retaining the related principles for those areas. The effective date for this ASU is the same as the effective date for ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)". In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date", which deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company is currently evaluating the method and impact the adoption of ASU 2016-10 will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, "Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting". This ASU simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, classification on the statement of cash flows, and accounting for forfeitures. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this accounting standard update effective January 1, 2016.

As a result of the adoption of this ASU, the Company recognized excess tax benefits from first quarter 2016 stock award exercises and vesting as a discrete tax benefit of $0.3 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. In addition, as a result of this change, excess tax benefits were excluded from the calculation of assumed proceeds in the Company’s calculation of diluted weighted shares. The Company’s diluted weighted shares outstanding as of March 31, 2016 increased 28,027 shares due to adoption of this amendment. Within the statement of cash flows, excess tax benefits of $0.3 million are included in net income and are therefore classified as an operating activity. The Company applied these changes prospectively, and therefore prior periods have not been adjusted. As permitted by this ASU, the Company has made an accounting policy election to record forfeitures as they occur rather than estimating expected forfeitures and, as a result, the cumulative effect of this change in accounting principle of $0.1 million was recorded as an adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2016.

The ASU permits equity classification of awards for tax withholding up to the maximum individual tax rate in a given jurisdiction for the net settlement of an award. As of March 31, 2016 the Company did not have liability classified awards and is currently evaluating its policy on tax withholding for award net settlement.