Statements of Consolidated Income and Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 2,450,284us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	$ 2,366,556us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Cost of goods sold	1,317,835us-gaap_CostOfRevenue	1,300,655us-gaap_CostOfRevenue
Gross profit	1,132,449us-gaap_GrossProfit	1,065,901us-gaap_GrossProfit
Percent to net sales	46.20%shw_GrossProfitPercentage	45.00%shw_GrossProfitPercentage
Selling, general and administrative expenses	929,197	884,088
Percent to net sales	37.90%	37.40%
Other general income - net	(1,673)shw_OtherGeneralIncomeExpenseNet	(572)shw_OtherGeneralIncomeExpenseNet
Interest expense	12,351us-gaap_InterestExpense	16,394us-gaap_InterestExpense
Interest and net investment income	(422)	(589)
Other (income) expense - net	(245)us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense	503us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense
Income before income taxes	193,241	166,077
Income taxes	61,837us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	50,620us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Net income	131,404us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	115,457us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Net income per common share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 1.41us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 1.16us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 1.38us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 1.14us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted
Average shares outstanding - basic (in shares)	92,740,059	98,833,210
Average shares and equivalents outstanding - diluted (in shares)	94,745,129	100,858,881
Comprehensive income	$ 75,057us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTax	$ 107,254us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTax

Gross profit divided by net sales.

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Other General Income (Expense), Net

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Selling, general, and administrative expense divided by net sales.

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Amount after tax of increase (decrease) in equity from transactions and other events and circumstances from net income and other comprehensive income, attributable to parent entity. Excludes changes in equity resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners.

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Sum of operating profit and nonoperating income or expense before Income or Loss from equity method investments, income taxes, extraordinary items, and noncontrolling interest.

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Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

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Amount before accretion (amortization) of purchase discount (premium) of interest income and dividend income on nonoperating securities.

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Total revenue from sale of goods and services rendered during the reporting period, in the normal course of business, reduced by sales returns and allowances, and sales discounts.

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