Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited) (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Quarterly Financial Information [Table Text Block]

	Three months ended
Millions of dollars, except per share data	Dec. 31				Sept. 30				Jun. 30					Mar. 31
	2011		2010		2011		2010		2011			2010		2011		2010
Net sales	$	4,910	$	5,041	$	4,625	$	4,519	$	4,730		$	4,534	$	4,401	$	4,272
Cost of products sold	4,198		4,375		4,052		3,871		4,061			3,773		3,778		3,633
Net earnings (loss)	213		178		181		83		(164		)	215		178		174
Net earnings (loss) available to Whirlpool	205		171		177		79		(161		)	205		169		164
Per share of common stock: (1)
Basic net earnings (loss)	2.66		2.23		2.31		1.04		(2.10		)	2.69		2.21		2.17
Diluted net earnings (loss)	2.62		2.19		2.27		1.02		(2.10		)	2.64		2.17		2.13
Dividends	0.50		0.43		0.50		0.43		0.50			0.43		0.43		0.43
Market price range of common stock: (2)
High	$	62.00	$	91.28	$	82.99	$	96.90	$	92.00		$	118.44	$	92.28	$	91.11
Low	45.22		72.95		47.35		71.00		72.48			86.86		79.15		73.30
Close	47.45		88.83		49.91		80.96		81.32			87.82		85.36		87.25

¹  The quarterly earnings per share amounts will not necessarily add to the earnings per share computed for the year due to the method used in calculating per share data.

²  Composite price as reported by the New York Stock Exchange.