Fair Value Measurements and Financial Instruments (Details 5) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Venezuelan Investments [Roll Forward]
Loss (gain) related to the remeasurement of fixed interest rate and devaluation-protected bonds in Venezuela	$ 50	$ 324
Foreign Government Debt Securities
Venezuelan Investments [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	399	685
Unrealized gain (loss) on investment	(17)	(341)
Purchases and sales during the period	12	55
Venezuela deconsolidation	(394)	0
Ending balance	$ 0	$ 399

Venezuela Accounting Change

No definition available.

Name:	cl_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesChargeforVenezuelaAccountingChange
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This element represents purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements (net) which have taken place during the period in relation to assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis using observable market-based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cl_FairValueMeasurementReconciliationRecurringBasisAssetPurchasesSalesIssuancesSettlements
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Loss (gain) related to the remeasurement of fixed interest rate and devaluation-protected bonds in Venezuela as a result of the effective devaluation in the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cl_LossgainrelatedtotheremeasurementoffixedinterestrateanddevaluationprotectedbondsinVenezuela
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Venezuelan Investments [Roll Forward]

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cl_VenezuelanInvestmentsRollForward
Namespace Prefix:	cl_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of investment in debt and equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65884222&loc=d3e22054-111558

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73527792&loc=d3e27232-111563

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66010992&loc=d3e26610-111562

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of unrealized gain (loss) on investments in debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73527792&loc=d3e27357-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableforsaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedGainLoss1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: