Document And Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	May 09, 2017
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Entity Registrant Name	BIOLIFE SOLUTIONS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000834365
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Trading Symbol	BLFS
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		13,036,621