Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) renewal_option $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) renewal_option $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) segment reporting_unit $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares	Jan. 01, 2019 USD ($)
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Restricted cash	$ 0				$ 40,000,000				$ 0	$ 40,000,000	$ 48,000,000
Unfunded commitments	0								0
Depreciation									518,000,000	570,000,000	575,000,000
Gain (loss) on sale of property, plant, and equipment									0	0	0
Impairment of long-lived assets									0	0	0
Sale leaseback, net proceeds	140,000,000
Annual rent payment	$ 10,000,000
Lease term	12 years
Lease renewal term	5 years
Sale leaseback, deferred gain, gross	$ 111,000,000
Sale leaseback, deferred gain, net	88,000,000
Sale leaseback, right-of-use assets and lease liabilities	108,000,000								108,000,000
Right of use assets	921,000,000								921,000,000
Operating lease liabilities	$ 944,000,000								$ 944,000,000
Options to extend lease | renewal_option	5
Number of reporting units | reporting_unit									4
Number of operating segments | segment									4
Goodwill, impairment loss									$ 0	579,000,000	0
Intangibles, impairment loss									0	168,000,000	0
Accounts payable outsourcing	$ 1,200,000,000				1,400,000,000				1,200,000,000	1,400,000,000
Research and development expense									541,000,000	572,000,000	596,000,000
Advertising expense									335,000,000	343,000,000	330,000,000
Decrease in net sales	(5,382,000,000)	$ (5,091,000,000)	$ (5,186,000,000)	$ (4,760,000,000)	(5,660,000,000)	$ (5,326,000,000)	$ (5,140,000,000)	$ (4,911,000,000)	(20,419,000,000)	(21,037,000,000)	(21,253,000,000)
Decrease in net earnings	(288,000,000)	(358,000,000)	(67,000,000)	(471,000,000)	(170,000,000)	(210,000,000)	657,000,000	(94,000,000)	(1,184,000,000)	183,000,000	(350,000,000)
Net earnings (loss)	$ 288,000,000	$ 364,000,000	$ 72,000,000	$ 474,000,000	$ 170,000,000	$ 216,000,000	$ (639,000,000)	$ 94,000,000	$ 1,198,000,000	$ (159,000,000)	$ 337,000,000
Decrease in diluted earnings per share (USD per share) | $ / shares	$ (4.52)	$ (5.57)	$ (1.04)	$ (7.31)	$ (2.64)	$ (3.22)	$ 9.50	$ (1.30)	$ (18.45)	$ 2.72	$ (4.70)
Other liabilities decrease	$ (612,000,000)				$ (463,000,000)				$ (612,000,000)	$ (463,000,000)
Cost of Products Sold
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Sale leaseback, deferred gain, gross	95,000,000
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Sale leaseback, deferred gain, gross	16,000,000
Machinery and equipment
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Retirement of machinery									41,000,000	100,000,000
Significant unobservable inputs (Level 3)
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Level 3 assets and liabilities					$ 0					0
Asia
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Goodwill, impairment loss										0
Decrease in net sales									(1,515,000,000)	(1,587,000,000)	$ (1,539,000,000)
Latin America
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Lease term					10 years
Lease renewal term					5 years
Sale leaseback, net proceeds					$ 133,000,000					$ 133,000,000
Annual rent payment					$ 11,000,000
Lease term					10 years					10 years
Options to extend lease | renewal_option					2
Lease renewal term					5 years					5 years
Sale leaseback, deferred gain					$ 69,000,000					$ 69,000,000
Goodwill, impairment loss										0
Decrease in net sales									(3,177,000,000)	(3,618,000,000)	(3,946,000,000)
One-Time Transition Tax
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Decrease in net earnings		$ 34,000,000
Net earnings (loss)		$ 34,000,000
Decrease in diluted earnings per share (USD per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.53
Other Foreign Subsidiary Income
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Decrease in net earnings		$ 22,000,000
Out-of-period adjustment | Asia
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Decrease in net sales										35,000,000
Increase in other operating expenses										8,000,000
Decrease in net earnings										$ 16,000,000
Decrease in diluted earnings per share (USD per share) | $ / shares										$ 0.22
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Right-of-use asset, including amounts held for sale												$ 858,000,000
Right-of-use asset, held for sale												46,000,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 | Latin America
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Right of use assets												90,000,000
Whirlpool India | Elica PB India
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Equity method investment, percentage					49.00%					49.00%
Equity method investment, amount										$ 22,000,000
Whirlpool India | Elica S.p.A.
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Equity method investment, percentage		12.54%
Retained Earnings
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Net earnings (loss)									1,184,000,000	(183,000,000)	$ 350,000,000
Accounts Receivable
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Outstanding accounts receivable transferred under arrangements where the Company continues to service the transferred asset	$ 348,000,000				$ 161,000,000				$ 348,000,000	$ 161,000,000
Group of Properties in Latin America | Retained Earnings | Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of new accounting principle in period of adoption												$ 82,000,000