Business Combination - Houghton (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, shares in Millions			12 Months Ended
		Aug. 01, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred [Abstract]
Fair value of common stock issued as consideration			$ 789,080
Houghton [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Date of Acquisition Agreement		Aug. 01, 2019
Business Acquisition Name Of Acquired Entity		Houghton
Business Combination Separately Recognized Transactions Additional Disclosures Acquisition Cost Expensed			38,000	$ 19,500	$ 30,800
Business Combination Separately Recognized Transactions Liabilities Recognized			6,600	$ 8,200
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred [Abstract]
Cash transferred to Houghton shareholders	[1]		170,829
Cash paid to extinguish Houghton debt obligation			702,556
Fair value of common stock issued as consideration	[2]		789,080
Total fair value of consideration transferred			$ 1,662,465
Business Acquisitions, Shares Acquired | shares		4.3
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired		24.50%
Business Acquisition Share Price | $ / shares		$ 182.27
Houghton [Member] | Disposal Group, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] | Certain steel and aluminum related product lines [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Proceeds From Divestiture Of Businesses		$ 37,000
Divested product lines impact on Net Sales, percent		0.03

[1] A portion is held in escrow by a third party, subject to indemnification rights that lapse upon the achievement of certain milestones.

[2] Amount was determined based on approximately 4.3 million shares, comprising approximately 24.5% of the common stock of the Company at closing, and the closing price per share of Quaker Chemical Corporation common stock of $182.27 on August 1, 2019.