Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows (used in) provided by operating activities	$ 214	$ 181
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to property, plant and equipment	(73)	(51)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(50)	(71)
Other investing activities, net	(1)	5
Return of advance from subsidiary		0
Total cash used in investing activities	(124)	(117)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance costs	743	170
Repayments on borrowings	(727)	(39)
Repurchases of common stock	0	(220)
Payments for purchase of additional ownership in subsidiary	(1)	(15)
Cash dividends paid	(60)	(45)
Other financing activities	(4)	(6)
Other intercompany activity, net		0
Total cash used in financing activities	(49)	(155)
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	(3)
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	41	(94)
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - beginning of period	96	201
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - end of period	137	107
Reportable Legal Entities | Valvoline Inc. (Parent Issuer)
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows (used in) provided by operating activities	(94)	(28)
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to property, plant and equipment	0	0
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Other investing activities, net	0	0
Return of advance from subsidiary		263
Total cash used in investing activities	0	263
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance costs	661	70
Repayments on borrowings	(505)	(38)
Repurchases of common stock		(220)
Payments for purchase of additional ownership in subsidiary	0	0
Cash dividends paid	(60)	(45)
Other financing activities	(2)	(2)
Other intercompany activity, net		0
Total cash used in financing activities	94	(235)
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - beginning of period	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - end of period	0	0
Reportable Legal Entities | Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows (used in) provided by operating activities	98	287
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to property, plant and equipment	(60)	(48)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(28)	(71)
Other investing activities, net	1	5
Return of advance from subsidiary		0
Total cash used in investing activities	(87)	(114)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance costs	0	0
Repayments on borrowings	0	0
Repurchases of common stock		0
Payments for purchase of additional ownership in subsidiary	0	0
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Other financing activities	(2)	(2)
Other intercompany activity, net		(263)
Total cash used in financing activities	(2)	(265)
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	9	(92)
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - beginning of period	20	99
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - end of period	29	7
Reportable Legal Entities | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows (used in) provided by operating activities	210	(78)
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to property, plant and equipment	(13)	(3)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(22)	0
Other investing activities, net	(2)	0
Return of advance from subsidiary		0
Total cash used in investing activities	(37)	(3)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance costs	82	100
Repayments on borrowings	(222)	(1)
Repurchases of common stock		0
Payments for purchase of additional ownership in subsidiary	(1)	(15)
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Other financing activities	0	(2)
Other intercompany activity, net		0
Total cash used in financing activities	(141)	82
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	(3)
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	32	(2)
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - beginning of period	76	102
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - end of period	108	100
Eliminations
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows (used in) provided by operating activities	0	0
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to property, plant and equipment	0	0
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Other investing activities, net	0	0
Return of advance from subsidiary		(263)
Total cash used in investing activities	0	(263)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance costs	0	0
Repayments on borrowings	0	0
Repurchases of common stock		0
Payments for purchase of additional ownership in subsidiary	0	0
Cash dividends paid	0	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Other intercompany activity, net		263
Total cash used in financing activities	0	263
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - beginning of period	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash - end of period	$ 0	$ 0