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Retirement Plans and Other Retiree Benefits - Additional Information, U.S. Plans (Details) - United States - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
U.S. plans assets purchased/sold to Company	0	0
Pension Plans
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Percentage of investments in Company's common stock	7.00%	7.00%
Dividends received by plans on the Company's common stock	$ 3	$ 3

X

- Definition

The amount of dividends received by the defined benefit plan on the Company's common stock.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cl_DefinedBenefitPlanDividendsReceivedOnEmployerSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The percentage of equity securities of the defined benefit plan invested in the Company's common stock.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cl_DefinedBenefitPlanPercentageOfEquitySecuritiesInvestedInEmployerSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The increase/decrease of shares of common stock held by the pension plan as part of the plan assets due to investment/divestiture.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cl_DefinedBenefitPlanPlanAssetsPurchasedSold
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetirementPlanSponsorLocationAxis=country_US
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetirementPlanTypeAxis=us-gaap_PensionPlansDefinedBenefitMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: