|**Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements (Note)**                              | 3 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    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|**Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
|Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements                                         | CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTSBasis of PresentationCLARCOR Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company” or “CLARCOR”) is a global provider of filtration products, filtration systems and services, and consumer and industrial packaging products.  As discussed further inNote 13, the Company hasthreereportable segments: Engine/Mobile Filtration, Industrial/Environmental Filtration and Packaging.  The Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements include all domestic and foreign subsidiaries that were more than 50% owned and controlled as of each respective reporting period presented.  All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.The Consolidated Condensed Statements of Earnings and the Consolidated Condensed Statements of Cash Flows for the periods endedMarch 2, 2013andMarch 3, 2012and the Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet as ofMarch 2, 2013have been prepared by the Company without audit.  The Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements have been prepared on the same basis as those in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year endedDecember 1, 2012(“2012Form 10-K”).  TheDecember 1, 2012Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet data was derived from the Company’s year-end audited Consolidated Financial Statements as presented in the2012Form 10-K but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP").  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (which include only normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations and cash flows have been made.  The results of operations for the period endedMarch 2, 2013, are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the full year.  The information included in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes included in the2012Form 10-K.Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted CashHighly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased and that are readily saleable are considered to be cash and cash equivalents.  Restricted cash represents funds held in escrow and cash balances held by German banks as collateral for certain guarantees of overseas subsidiaries.  Restricted cash classified as current corresponds to guarantees that expire within one year.  The Company also has$1,863and$1,839of noncurrent restricted cash recorded in Other noncurrent assets as ofMarch 2, 2013andDecember 1, 2012, respectively, corresponding to guarantees and escrow agreements that expire longer than one year from the dates of the Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets.InventoriesInventories are valued at the lower of cost or market primarily determined on the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method of inventory costing, which approximates current cost.  Inventories are summarized as follows:March 2, 2013December 1, 2012Raw materials$76,869$75,928Work in process38,51934,996Finished products104,097100,327Inventories$219,485$211,251New Accounting GuidanceIn February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued guidance to improve the reporting of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI").  The amendments do not change the current requirement for reporting net income or other comprehensive income in financial statements; however, the amendments require an entity to provide information about the amounts reclassified out of AOCI by component.  In addition, an entity is required to present , either on the face of the statement where net income is presented or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of AOCI by the respective line items of net income, but only if the amount reclassified is required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period.  For other amounts that are not required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures required under U.S. GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts.  The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2012, although early adoption is permitted.  The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance on the first day of fiscal year 2014 to have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.In July 2012, the FASB issued amendments to its indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment testing guidance to simplify how entities test for indefinite-lived intangible asset impairments.  The objective of the amendments is to reduce cost and complexity by providing an entity with the option to make a qualitative assessment about the likelihood that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired to determine whether it should perform a quantitative impairment test.  The amendments also enhance the consistency of impairment testing guidance amount long-lived asset categories by permitting an entity to assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to calculate the asset's fair value when testing an indefinite-lived intangible asset for impairment, which is equivalent to the impairment testing requirements for other long-lived assets.  The amendments are effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012, although early adoption is permitted.  The adoption of this guidance on the first day of fiscal year 2013 did not have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.In September 2011, the FASB issued amendments to its goodwill impairment testing guidance to simplify how entities test for goodwill impairments.  The amendments are intended to reduce complexity and cost by providing a company the option of making an initial qualitative evaluation about the likelihood of goodwill impairment in determining whether it should calculate the fair value of a reporting unit.  The amendments also include examples of events and circumstances that a company should consider in evaluating whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount.  The amendments are effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, although early adoption is permitted.  The adoption of this guidance on the first day of fiscal year 2013 did not have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.In June 2011, the FASB issued amendments to its comprehensive income guidance to (a) improve the comparability, consistency and transparency of financial reporting, (b) increase the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income and (c) facilitate the convergence of U.S. GAAP with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS").  The amendments require all non-owner changes in shareholders' equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements.  The required amendments, pursuant to the guidance, must be applied retrospectively.   In December 2011, the FASB issued amendments to defer certain presentation requirements of the initial guidance.  The guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011, although early adoption is permitted.  The adoption of this guidance on the first day of fiscal year 2013 resulted in the presentation of the Consolidated Condensed Statements of Comprehensive Earnings, but did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.
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|                                                                                    | March 2, 2013                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
|Raw materials                                                                       | $                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|Work in process                                                                     | 38,519                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
|Finished products                                                                   | 104,097                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
|Inventories                                                                         | $                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 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