Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended					0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	5 Months Ended								1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	27 Months Ended	0 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014 Total Receivables Related to Product Liability Matters	Dec. 31, 2013 Total Receivables Related to Product Liability Matters	Nov. 02, 2013 W. L. Gore	Jan. 31, 2014 W. L. Gore	Dec. 31, 2013 W. L. Gore	Mar. 31, 2014 W. L. Gore	Jul. 31, 2010 W. L. Gore	Mar. 31, 2009 W. L. Gore	Dec. 31, 2007 W. L. Gore	Mar. 31, 2009 W. L. Gore Attorney Fees	Mar. 31, 2009 W. L. Gore Prejudgment Interest	Jul. 31, 2010 W. L. Gore Minimum	Jul. 31, 2010 W. L. Gore Maximum	Jun. 30, 2007 Hernia Product Claims LegalMatter	Mar. 31, 2014 Hernia Product Claims	Mar. 31, 2014 Hernia Product Claims	Apr. 17, 2014 Hernia Product Claims Subsequent Event Plaintiff	Apr. 17, 2014 Hernia Product Claims Subsequent Event United States LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Hernia Product Claims Subsequent Event Canada LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Hernia Product Claims Subsequent Event State Law Claims LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Hernia Product Claims Subsequent Event Federal Law Claims LegalMatter	Mar. 31, 2013 Hernia Product Claims Arbitration Proceedings Carriers	Mar. 31, 2013 Hernia Product Claims Arbitration Proceedings Other (income) expense	Apr. 17, 2014 Hernia Product Claims Superior Court of State of Rhode Island Subsequent Event State Law Claims Plaintiff LegalMatter	Jul. 31, 2012 Women's Health Product Claims	Apr. 17, 2014 Women's Health Product Claims Subsequent Event Claim Plaintiff LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Women's Health Product Claims Subsequent Event United States LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Women's Health Product Claims Subsequent Event Canada LegalMatter	Jan. 16, 2014 Women's Health Product Claims Multi District Litigation LegalMatter	Jul. 31, 2013 Women's Health Product Claims Multi District Litigation	Sep. 30, 2013 Women's Health Product Claims Multi District Litigation Claim	Sep. 30, 2013 Women's Health Product Claims New Jersey state case Claim	Jul. 31, 2013 Filter Product Claims State Law Claims LegalMatter	Jun. 30, 2013 Filter Product Claims State Law Claims LegalMatter	Jun. 30, 2013 Filter Product Claims Minimum State Law Claims LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Filter Product Claims Subsequent Event Plaintiff LegalMatter	Apr. 17, 2014 Filter Product Claims Subsequent Event State Law Claims LegalMatter
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits																					1		325	495			305
Number of individual plaintiffs																				970							435		11,210										50
Number of putative class actions																					2									5	4									3
Number of previously filed class action lawsuits consolidated into putative class actions																					10
Number of Putative Class Actions Settled																						3
Number of Multidistrict Litigations																	1
U. S. District Court award for plaintiff's damages																												$ 3.6					$ 2.0
Loss contingency claims settled number																																		1	1
Loss contingency claims dismissed number																																		1
Number of individual case for trial																																200
Expected trial date scheduled by Court																																2014-05
Generic complaints																													1,015
Number of claim not yet filed																													2,330										165
Number of putative class actions dismissed																																					2
Number of putative class actions with class certification denied																																				1
Period for additional Filter Product Claims trials																																								12 months
Number of claims in settlement agreement																																						30
Non-cash charge write off related to insurance receivable																										25.0
Non-cash charge write off related to insurance receivable after tax																									24.5
Number of insurance carriers																									1
U. S. District Court award for damages										109	371	185	19	20
Court-assessed royalty rate															12.50%	20.00%
Litigation judgment or settlement, amount						894.3
Gain (loss) related to litigation judgment or settlement								894.3
Gain (loss) related to litigation judgment or settlement, after tax								557.4
Litigation related royalty revenue							37.6
Cumulative Litigation Settlement Amount									931.9
Product Claims, charges incurred before taxes	108.0	293.0
Product Claims, charges incurred after tax	92.0	276.0
Accruals for product liability and other legal matters	662.4		663.3
Accruals for product liability and other legal matters, accrued expenses	117.5		116.6
Payments to qualified settlement fund																		0	177.1
Payments to qualified claimants from qualified settlement funds																		1.2	162.0
Other payments to qualified claimants from qualified settlement funds																		2.9	32.3
Receivables related to product liability matters				$ 229.3	$ 234.9