1.0.0.3 false Statement Of Income (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data false 1 $ false false iso4217_USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 iso4217_USD_per_shares Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares 0 false 2 $ false false iso4217_USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 iso4217_USD_per_shares Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares 0 false 3 $ false false iso4217_USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 iso4217_USD_per_shares Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares 0 5 Net Sales 3 us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 true true 19115000000 19115 false false 2 true true 19415000000 19415 false false 3 true true 18266000000 18266 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 6 Cost of products sold 3 us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold us-gaap true debit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 12695000000 12695 false false 2 false true 13557000000 13557 false false 3 false true 12562000000 12562 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 7 Gross Profit 3 us-gaap_GrossProfit us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 6420000000 6420 false false 2 false true 5858000000 5858 false false 3 false true 5704000000 5704 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 8 Marketing, research and general expenses 3 kmb_MarketingResearchAndGeneralExpenses kmb false debit duration monetary The aggregate total costs related to selling a firm's product and services, as well as all other general and administrative... false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 3498000000 3498 false false 2 false true 3291000000 3291 false false 3 false true 3106000000 3106 false false The aggregate total costs related to selling a firm's product and services, as well as all other general and administrative expenses. Direct selling expenses (for example, credit, warranty, and advertising) are expenses that can be directly linked to the sale of specific products. Indirect selling expenses are expenses that cannot be directly linked to the sale of specific products, for example, telephone expenses, Internet, and postal charts. The aggregate costs incurred in a planned search or critical investigation aimed at discovery of new knowledge with the hope that such knowledge will be useful in developing a new product or service, a new process or technique, or in bringing about a significant improvement to an existing product or process. General and administrative expenses include salaries of non-sales personnel, rent, utilities, communication, etc. No authoritative reference available. false 9 Other (income) and expense, net 3 kmb_OtherOperatingIncomeExpense kmb false credit duration monetary The total amount of other operating income, cost and expense items that are associated with the entity's normal revenue... false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 97000000 97 false false 2 false true 20000000 20 false false 3 false true -18000000 -18 false false The total amount of other operating income, cost and expense items that are associated with the entity's normal revenue producing operation. No authoritative reference available. false 10 Operating Profit 3 us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 2825000000 2825 false false 2 false true 2547000000 2547 false false 3 false true 2616000000 2616 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 11 Nonoperating expense 3 us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingExpense us-gaap true debit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 0 0 false false 2 false true 0 0 false false 3 false true -67000000 -67 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 12 Interest income 3 us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 26000000 26 false false 2 false true 46000000 46 false false 3 false true 34000000 34 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 13 Interest expense 3 us-gaap_InterestExpense us-gaap true debit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true -275000000 -275 false false 2 false true -304000000 -304 false false 3 false true -265000000 -265 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 14 Income Before Income Taxes, Equity Interests and Extraordinary Loss 3 us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesMinorityInterestAndIncomeLossFromEquityMethodInvestments us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 2576000000 2576 false false 2 false true 2289000000 2289 false false 3 false true 2318000000 2318 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 15 Provision for income taxes 3 us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit us-gaap true debit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true -746000000 -746 false false 2 false true -618000000 -618 false false 3 false true -537000000 -537 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 16 Income Before Equity Interests and Extraordinary Loss 3 kmb_IncomeBeforeEquityInterestAndExtraordinaryLoss kmb false credit duration monetary Income before equity interest and extraordinary loss. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 1830000000 1830 false false 2 false true 1671000000 1671 false false 3 false true 1781000000 1781 false false Income before equity interest and extraordinary loss. No authoritative reference available. true 17 Share of net income of equity companies 3 us-gaap_IncomeLossFromEquityMethodInvestments us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 164000000 164 false false 2 false true 166000000 166 false false 3 false true 170000000 170 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 18 Income Before Extraordinary Loss 3 us-gaap_IncomeLossBeforeExtraordinaryItemsAndCumulativeEffectOfChangeInAccountingPrinciple us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 1994000000 1994 false false 2 false true 1837000000 1837 false false 3 false true 1951000000 1951 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 19 Extraordinary loss, net of income taxes, attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation 3 us-gaap_ExtraordinaryItemNetOfTax us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 0 0 false false 2 false true -8000000 -8 false false 3 false true 0 0 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 20 Net Income 3 us-gaap_ProfitLoss us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true 1994000000 1994 false false 2 false true 1829000000 1829 false false 3 false true 1951000000 1951 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 21 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 3 us-gaap_NetIncomeLossAttributableToNoncontrollingInterest us-gaap true debit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 false true -110000000 -110 false false 2 false true -139000000 -139 false false 3 false true -128000000 -128 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 22 Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation 3 us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss us-gaap true credit duration monetary No definition available. false false false false false false false false false 1 true true 1884000000 1884 false false 2 true true 1690000000 1690 false false 3 true true 1823000000 1823 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 24 Basic 4 us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasicAbstract us-gaap true na duration string No definition available. false false false false false true false false false 1 false false 0 0 false false 2 false false 0 0 false false 3 false false 0 0 false false No definition available. false 25 Before extraordinary loss 5 us-gaap_IncomeLossBeforeExtraordinaryItemsAndCumulativeEffectOfChangeInAccountingPrinciplePerBasicShare us-gaap true na duration decimal No definition available. false false false false false false false false true 1 true true 4.53 4.53 false false 2 true true 4.06 4.06 false false 3 true true 4.11 4.11 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 26 Extraordinary loss 5 us-gaap_IncomeLossFromExtraordinaryItemsNetOfTaxPerBasicShare us-gaap true na duration decimal No definition available. false false false false false false false false true 1 true true 0.00 0.00 false false 2 true true -0.02 -0.02 false false 3 true true 0.00 0.00 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 27 Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation 5 us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic us-gaap true na duration decimal No definition available. false false false false false false false false true 1 true true 4.53 4.53 false false 2 true true 4.04 4.04 false false 3 true true 4.11 4.11 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true 28 Diluted 4 us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDilutedAbstract us-gaap true na duration string No definition available. false false false false false true false false false 1 false false 0 0 false false 2 false false 0 0 false false 3 false false 0 0 false false No definition available. false 29 Before extraordinary loss 5 us-gaap_IncomeLossBeforeExtraordinaryItemsAndCumulativeEffectOfChangeInAccountingPrinciplePerDilutedShare us-gaap true na duration decimal No definition available. false false false false false false false false true 1 true true 4.52 4.52 false false 2 true true 4.05 4.05 false false 3 true true 4.08 4.08 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 30 Extraordinary loss 5 us-gaap_IncomeLossFromExtraordinaryItemsNetOfTaxPerDilutedShare us-gaap true na duration decimal No definition available. false false false false false false false false true 1 true true 0.00 0.00 false false 2 true true -0.02 -0.02 false false 3 true true 0.00 0.00 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. false 31 Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation 5 us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted us-gaap true na duration decimal No definition available. false false false false false false false false true 1 true true 4.52 4.52 false false 2 true true 4.03 4.03 false false 3 true true 4.08 4.08 false false No definition available. No authoritative reference available. true false 3 26 false Millions UnKnown Hundreds false true