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Income Taxes (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Oct. 24, 2014	Oct. 14, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Income tax expense	$ 189,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	$ 68,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	$ 133,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Effective income tax rate	35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate
Distribution of foreign earnings	24,000,000whr_DistributionOfForeignEarnings					24,000,000whr_DistributionOfForeignEarnings
Undistributed foreign earnings	4,900,000,000us-gaap_UndistributedEarningsOfForeignSubsidiaries					4,900,000,000us-gaap_UndistributedEarningsOfForeignSubsidiaries
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	1,000,000,000us-gaap_CashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue					1,000,000,000us-gaap_CashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue
Operating loss carryforwards	3,200,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards					3,200,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
Positions assumed in acquisitions	42,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncreasesResultingFromAcquisition	0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncreasesResultingFromAcquisition	0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncreasesResultingFromAcquisition
Unrecognized tax benefits, income tax penalties and interest accrued	63,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued	39,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued				63,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued
Unrecognized tax benefits, income tax penalties and interest expense	6,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense	12,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense	4,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense
Operating loss carryforwards, not subject to expiration	1,800,000,000whr_OperatingLossCarryforwardNotSubjectToExpiration					1,800,000,000whr_OperatingLossCarryforwardNotSubjectToExpiration
Foreign tax credit carryforwards	249,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxCreditCarryforwardsForeign	243,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxCreditCarryforwardsForeign				249,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxCreditCarryforwardsForeign
U.S. general business credit carryforwards, including Energy Tax Credits	1,005,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxCreditCarryforwardsGeneralBusiness	1,050,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxCreditCarryforwardsGeneralBusiness				1,005,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxCreditCarryforwardsGeneralBusiness
Valuation allowance, deferred tax assets	308,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance	186,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance				308,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance
Valuation allowance, operating loss carryforward	288,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwardsValuationAllowance					288,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwardsValuationAllowance
Valuation allowance, other tax carryforwards	20,000,000us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardValuationAllowance					20,000,000us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardValuationAllowance
Unrecognized tax Benefits	20,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactEffectiveTaxRate					20,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactEffectiveTaxRate
Hefei Sanyo
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Positions assumed in acquisitions				61,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncreasesResultingFromAcquisition / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = whr_HefeiSanyoMember
Indesit Company S.p.A.
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Positions assumed in acquisitions					10,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncreasesResultingFromAcquisition / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = whr_IndesitCompanyS.p.A.Member
Hefei Sanyo And Indesit
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Positions assumed in acquisitions						71,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncreasesResultingFromAcquisition / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = whr_HefeiSanyoAndIndesitMember
Unrecognized tax benefits, income tax penalties and interest expense						31,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestExpense / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = whr_HefeiSanyoAndIndesitMember
United States
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Operating loss carryforwards	1,200,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards / us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis = country_US					1,200,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards / us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis = country_US
Geographical, outside the United States
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 900,000,000us-gaap_CashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue / us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis = whr_GeographicalOutsideUnitedStatesMember					$ 900,000,000us-gaap_CashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue / us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis = whr_GeographicalOutsideUnitedStatesMember

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