XML 19 R38.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9
Litigation (Details) (USD $)
0 Months Ended 3 Months Ended
Jul. 01, 2008
defendant
jury_trial
Jan. 27, 2014
defendant
Dec. 31, 2014
Trial by Jury, State of Rhode Island [Member]      
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]      
Number of jury trials 2shw_LossContingencyNumberOfJuryTrials
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= shw_TrialByJuryStateOfRhodeIslandMember
   
Number of additional defendants 2shw_LossContingencyNumberOfAdditionalDefendants
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= shw_TrialByJuryStateOfRhodeIslandMember
   
Santa Clara County, California Proceeding [Member]      
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]      
Number of additional defendants   2shw_LossContingencyNumberOfAdditionalDefendants
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= shw_SantaClaraCountyCaliforniaProceedingMember
 
Amount payable jointly and severally for litigation   $ 1,150,000,000shw_LossContingencyAmountEstimatedtobePayableJointlyandSeverally
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= shw_SantaClaraCountyCaliforniaProceedingMember
 
Titanium Dioxide Antitrust Litigation [Member]      
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]      
Settlement gain related to litigation settlement     $ 21,400,000us-gaap_GainLossRelatedToLitigationSettlement
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= shw_TitaniumDioxideAntitrustLitigationMember