Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 Unit	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012 Unit
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment loss		$ 1,100.0	$ 1,091.0
Reduction of pre-tax goodwill impairment charge	326
Number of reporting units, of Diversey segment, for which fair value of goodwill was lower than carrying value	2		2
Remaining weighted average useful life of finite-lived intangible assets			10 years 4 months 24 days
Customer relationships [Member]
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Pre-tax impairment charge of finite lived intangible assets	149
Institutional & Laundry [Member]
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment loss	97.0		883.0
Food & Beverage - Hygiene Solutions [Member]
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment loss	174.0
Trademarks and trade names [Member]
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Pre-tax impairment charge of indefinite lived intangible assets	441	189
Indefinite-lived intangible Assets (excluding goodwill)	251		251
Trademarks and trade names [Member] | Food & Beverage [Member]
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Pre-tax impairment charge of indefinite lived intangible assets	140
Trademarks and trade names [Member] | Institutional & Laundry [Member]
Goodwill And Identifiable Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Pre-tax impairment charge of indefinite lived intangible assets	$ 301