Postretirement Medical Plan - Narrative (Details) $ in Millions	1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Nov. 30, 2009	Jan. 31, 2017 USD ($) employee	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of eligible participants			9
Postretirement medical plan liability \| $			$ 0.1	$ 0.2
Predecessor
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Description of postretirement medical plan		During November 2009, the Predecessor company established an unfunded noncontributory defined benefit plan that allowed eligible employees to continue to participate in the Predecessor company’s medical plan for a limited time after retirement. Employees hired on or before January 1, 1986 that retire on or after age 60 and their spouses are eligible to participate until age 65 or until they become eligible for Medicare parts A or B. The eligible employees and their spouses are still covered under this plan after the Transaction.
Number of eligible participants			5
Predecessor \| Minimum
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Designated employees, retirement age		60 years
Predecessor \| Maximum
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Designated employees, retirement age		65 years
Successor
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Description of postretirement medical plan	During June 2011, we amended this plan to allow designated employees and their spouses to continue to participate in the Company’s medical plan for a limited time after retirement. Designated employees with ten years of service that retire on or after age 58 are eligible to participate, provided that they give the Company one year advance notice of their intent to retire. Eligible employees can participate until age 65 or until they become eligible for Medicare parts A or B. Our postretirement medical plan does not provide prescription drug benefits to Medicare-eligible employees and is not affected by the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
Number of eligible participants			4
Successor \| Minimum
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Designated employees, retirement age	58 years
Designated employees, requisite years of service	10 years
Successor \| Maximum
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Designated employees, retirement age	65 years

BakerCorp International, Inc. 10-K