Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 96	$ 201	$ 172	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	409	385
Inventories, net	176	175
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	44	29
Total current assets	725	790
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	420	391
Goodwill and intangibles, net	448	335
Equity method investments	31	30
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	138	281
Other noncurrent assets	92	88
Total noncurrent assets	1,129	1,125
Total assets	1,854	1,915
Current liabilities
Short-term debt	0	75
Current portion of long-term debt	30	15
Trade and other payables	178	192
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	203	196
Total current liabilities	411	478
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,292	1,034
Employee benefit obligations	333	342
Other noncurrent liabilities	176	178
Total noncurrent liabilities	1,801	1,554
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(358)	(117)	(330)	617
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	1,854	1,915
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(119)	(61)
Inventories, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(119)	(61)
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill and intangibles, net	0	0
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(1,310)	(1,053)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other noncurrent assets	0	(312)
Total noncurrent assets	(1,310)	(1,365)
Total assets	(1,429)	(1,426)
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	(119)	(61)
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(119)	(61)
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	0	0
Employee benefit obligations	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	0	(312)
Total noncurrent liabilities	0	(312)
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(1,310)	(1,053)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	(1,429)	(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
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1	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	801	606
Deferred income taxes	62	145
Other noncurrent assets	2	314
Total noncurrent assets	865	1,065
Total assets	866	1,065
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	30	15
Trade and other payables	3	2
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	7	103
Total current liabilities	40	120
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1,151	1,032
Employee benefit obligations	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	33	30
Total noncurrent liabilities	1,184	1,062
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	(358)	(117)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	866	1,065
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	20	99	93	0
Accounts receivable, net	48	57
Inventories, net	95	94
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	38	25
Total current assets	201	275
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	384	353
Goodwill and intangibles, net	396	333
Equity method investments	31	30
Investment in subsidiaries	509	447
Deferred income taxes	63	122
Other noncurrent assets	85	80
Total noncurrent assets	1,468	1,365
Total assets	1,669	1,640
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	241	198
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	168	60
Total current liabilities	409	258
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	1	2
Employee benefit obligations	317	321
Other noncurrent liabilities	141	453
Total noncurrent liabilities	459	776
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	801	606
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	1,669	1,640
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	76	102	$ 79	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	480	389
Inventories, net	81	81
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	5	4
Total current assets	642	576
Noncurrent assets
Property, plant and equipment, net	36	38
Goodwill and intangibles, net	52	2
Equity method investments	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Deferred income taxes	13	14
Other noncurrent assets	5	6
Total noncurrent assets	106	60
Total assets	748	636
Current liabilities
Short-term debt		75
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Trade and other payables	53	53
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	28	33
Total current liabilities	81	161
Noncurrent liabilities
Long-term debt	140	0
Employee benefit obligations	16	21
Other noncurrent liabilities	2	7
Total noncurrent liabilities	158	28
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity	509	447
Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit	$ 748	$ 636