Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 107	$ 201	$ 132	$ 172
Accounts receivable, net	461	385
Inventories, net	196	175
Other current assets	26	29
Total current assets	790	790
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	399	391
Goodwill and intangibles, net	398	335
Equity method investments	33	30
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	147	281
Other noncurrent assets	82	88
Total noncurrent assets	1,059	1,125
Total assets	1,849	1,915
Current liabilities
Short-term debt	0	75
Current portion of long-term debt	26	15
Trade and other payables	176	192
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	223	196
Total current liabilities	425	478
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,231	1,034
Employee benefit obligations	303	342
Other noncurrent liabilities	178	178
Total noncurrent liabilities	1,712	1,554
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(288)	(117)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	1,849	1,915
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(155)	(61)
Inventories, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(155)	(61)
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill and intangibles, net	0	0
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(1,239)	(1,053)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other noncurrent assets	(49)	(312)
Total noncurrent assets	(1,288)	(1,365)
Total assets	(1,443)	(1,426)
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	(155)	(61)
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(155)	(61)
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	0	0
Employee benefit obligations	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	(49)	(312)
Total noncurrent liabilities	(49)	(312)
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(1,239)	(1,053)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	(1,443)	(1,426)
Valvoline Inc. (Parent Issuer) | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	1	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	1	0
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill and intangibles, net	0	0
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	762	606
Deferred income taxes	60	145
Other noncurrent assets	51	314
Total noncurrent assets	873	1,065
Total assets	874	1,065
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	26	15
Trade and other payables	0	2
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	50	103
Total current liabilities	76	120
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,055	1,032
Employee benefit obligations	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	31	30
Total noncurrent liabilities	1,086	1,062
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(288)	(117)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	874	1,065
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	7	99	36	93
Accounts receivable, net	98	57
Inventories, net	112	94
Other current assets	23	25
Total current assets	240	275
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	363	353
Goodwill and intangibles, net	397	333
Equity method investments	33	30
Investment in subsidiaries	477	447
Deferred income taxes	73	122
Other noncurrent assets	75	80
Total noncurrent assets	1,418	1,365
Total assets	1,658	1,640
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	280	198
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	135	60
Total current liabilities	415	258
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	2	2
Employee benefit obligations	285	321
Other noncurrent liabilities	194	453
Total noncurrent liabilities	481	776
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	762	606
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	1,658	1,640
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	100	102	$ 96	$ 79
Accounts receivable, net	517	389
Inventories, net	84	81
Other current assets	3	4
Total current assets	704	576
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	36	38
Goodwill and intangibles, net	1	2
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	14	14
Other noncurrent assets	5	6
Total noncurrent assets	56	60
Total assets	760	636
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		75
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	51	53
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	38	33
Total current liabilities	89	161
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	174	0
Employee benefit obligations	18	21
Other noncurrent liabilities	2	7
Total noncurrent liabilities	194	28
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	477	447
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	$ 760	$ 636