Income Taxes Disclosures (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended											12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2009	Sep. 30, 2011 BRAZIL	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Foreign Countries [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Foreign Countries [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 UNITED STATES	Sep. 30, 2011 UNITED STATES	Sep. 30, 2012 Furminator [Member]	Dec. 22, 2011 Furminator [Member]	Jun. 16, 2010 Russell Hobbs Merger [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Current Assets [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Current Assets [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Current Liabilites [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Current Liabilites [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Assets [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Assets [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Liabilities [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Liabilities [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Scenario, Adjustment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2010 Scenario, Adjustment [Member]
Income Tax Disclosures [Line Items]
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, at Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate	35.00%
United States pretax income	$ (66,102)	$ (119,984)	$ (230,262)
Outside the United States pretax income	175,059	137,108	106,079
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	108,957	17,124	(124,183)
Foreign current income tax expense	38,113	32,649	44,481
State current income tax expense	(361)	2,332	2,907
Total current income tax expense	37,752	34,981	47,388
Federal deferred income tax expense	20,884	20,247	22,119
Foreign deferred income tax expense	5,190	28,054	(6,514)
State deferred income tax expense	(3,441)	9,013	196
Total deferred income tax expense	22,633	57,314	15,801
Income tax expense	60,385	92,295	63,189																		4,873	5,900
Statutory federal income tax	38,135	5,994	(43,464)
Permanent Items	8,595	10,607	4,828
Exempt foreign income	(5,760)	(380)	(9)
Foreign statutory rate vs. U.S. statutory rate	(15,211)	(14,132)	(9,601)
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	(2,164)	1,242	(4,979)
Residual tax on foreign earnings	29,844	18,943	6,609
Income Tax Reconciliation, FURminator Purchase Accounting Impact	(14,511)	0	0
Valuation allowance	26,003	68,615	90,977
Reorganization Items	0	0	7,553
Unrecognized tax benefits	(4,386)	(2,793)	3,234
Inflationary Adjustments	(803)	(1,472)	3,409
Correction of immaterial prior period error	0	4,873	5,900
Other	643	798	(1,268)
Components of Deferred Tax Assets [Abstract]
Employee benefits deferred tax asset													16,399	14,188			34,927	30,177
Restructuring deferred tax asset													8,054	10,682			371	2,269
Inventories and receivables current deferred tax asset	22,495	21,521
Marketing and promotional accruals deferred tax asset													8,270	8,911
Other current deferred tax asset													14,440	14,742			7,866	5,743
Valuation allowance current deferred tax asset	(29,808)	(28,772)
Total current deferred tax assets	39,850	41,272
Net operating loss and credit carry forwards noncurrent deferred tax asset	572,857	525,394
Prepaid royalty noncurrent deferred tax asset	7,006	7,346
Property, plant and equipment noncurrent deferred tax asset	3,255	5,240
Unrealized losses noncurrent deferred tax asset	2,521	9,000
Long-term debt	3,976	22,602
Intangibles	4,282	4,749
Valuation allowance noncurrent deferred tax asset	(354,992)	(345,121)
Total noncurrent deferred tax assets	282,069	267,399
Components of Deferred Tax Liabilities [Abstract]
Inventories and receivables current deferred tax liability	(2,618)	(5,015)
Other deferred tax liability															(7,936)	(5,705)			(2,964)	(5,069)
Total current deferred tax liabilities	(11,707)	(13,102)
Property, plant, and equipment noncurrent deferred tax liability	(15,337)	(16,593)
Unrealized gains noncurrent deferred tax liability															1,153	2,382			(15,803)	(11,619)
Intangibles noncurrent deferred tax liability	(596,199)	(571,454)
Taxes on unremitted foreign earnings	(29,231)	0
Total noncurrent deferred tax liabilities	(659,534)	(604,735)
Net current deferred tax asests	28,143	28,170
Net noncurrent deferred tax liabilities	(377,465)	(337,336)									(14,916)
Net current and noncurrent deferred tax liabilities	(349,322)	(309,166)
Distributed Earnings of Foreign Subsidiaries	97,638	39,391	26,600
Tax Expense Related to the Distribution of Foreign Earnings	3,278	771	0
Projected Income Taxes due on Repatriation of Earnings	2,465
Gross Amount of Taxable Earnings on Repatriation	76,475
Undistributed Earnings of Foreign Subsidiaries	415,713
Operating Loss Carryforwards, Domestic	1,304,763
Operating Loss Carryforwards, State and Local	1,340,761
Operating Loss Carryforwards, Foreign	119,100
Domestic Operating Loss Carryforwards Expected to Expire Unused	301,202
State and Local Operating Loss Carryforwards Expected to Exipre Unused	385,159
Foreign Operating Loss Carryforwards Expected to Expire Unused	110,794
Deferred Tax Assets, Valuation Allowance	384,800	373,893				35,484	35,354	349,316	338,538
Valuation Allowance, Deferred Tax Asset, Change in Amount	10,907				25,877	130		10,778		14,511
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Income Tax Penalties and Interest Accrued	3,564	4,682
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Income Tax Penalties and Interest Expense	(1,184)	(1,422)	1,527
Unrecognized Tax Benefits	5,877	9,013	12,808	7,765								3,299
Russell Hobbs acquired unrecognized tax benefits			3,251
Gross increase – tax positions in prior period	773	1,658
Gross decrease – tax positions in prior period	(1,308)	(823)	(904)
Gross increase – tax positions in current period	776	596	3,390
Settlements	(1,737)	(1,850)
Lapse of statutes of limitations	$ (1,640)	$ (3,376)	$ (694)