Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 127	$ 201	$ 135	$ 172
Accounts receivable, net	435	385
Inventories, net	194	175
Other current assets	39	29
Total current assets	795	790
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	390	391
Goodwill and intangibles, net	396	335
Equity method investments	34	30
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	171	281
Other noncurrent assets	83	88
Total noncurrent assets	1,074	1,125
Total assets	1,869	1,915
Current liabilities
Short-term debt	0	75
Current portion of long-term debt	23	15
Trade and other payables	194	192
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	198	196
Total current liabilities	415	478
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,183	1,034
Employee benefit obligations	316	342
Other noncurrent liabilities	181	178
Total noncurrent liabilities	1,680	1,554
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(226)	(117)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	1,869	1,915
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(146)	(61)
Inventories, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(146)	(61)
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill and intangibles, net	0	0
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(1,195)	(1,053)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other noncurrent assets	(125)	(312)
Total noncurrent assets	(1,320)	(1,365)
Total assets	(1,466)	(1,426)
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	(146)	(61)
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(146)	(61)
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	0	0
Employee benefit obligations	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	(125)	(312)
Total noncurrent liabilities	(125)	(312)
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(1,195)	(1,053)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	(1,466)	(1,426)
Valvoline Inc. (Parent Issuer) | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill and intangibles, net	0	0
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	705	606
Deferred income taxes	127	145
Other noncurrent assets	128	314
Total noncurrent assets	960	1,065
Total assets	960	1,065
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	23	15
Trade and other payables	0	2
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	110	103
Total current liabilities	133	120
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,018	1,032
Employee benefit obligations	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	35	30
Total noncurrent liabilities	1,053	1,062
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(226)	(117)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	960	1,065
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	21	99	44	93
Accounts receivable, net	66	57
Inventories, net	112	94
Other current assets	36	25
Total current assets	235	275
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	353	353
Goodwill and intangibles, net	395	333
Equity method investments	34	30
Investment in subsidiaries	490	447
Deferred income taxes	29	122
Other noncurrent assets	75	80
Total noncurrent assets	1,376	1,365
Total assets	1,611	1,640
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	281	198
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	57	60
Total current liabilities	338	258
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	2	2
Employee benefit obligations	296	321
Other noncurrent liabilities	270	453
Total noncurrent liabilities	568	776
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	705	606
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	1,611	1,640
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	106	102	$ 91	$ 79
Accounts receivable, net	515	389
Inventories, net	82	81
Other current assets	3	4
Total current assets	706	576
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	37	38
Goodwill and intangibles, net	1	2
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	15	14
Other noncurrent assets	5	6
Total noncurrent assets	58	60
Total assets	764	636
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		75
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	59	53
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	31	33
Total current liabilities	90	161
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	163	0
Employee benefit obligations	20	21
Other noncurrent liabilities	1	7
Total noncurrent liabilities	184	28
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	490	447
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	$ 764	$ 636