Guarantor Non-Guarantor Subsidiary Financial Information Level 4 (Details) - Consolidating Statement of Operations (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Net sales	$ 1,337	$ 1,250	$ 2,630	$ 2,442
Cost of sales	1,174	1,098	2,303	2,147
Gross profit	163	152	327	295
Selling, general and administrative expense	95	89	191	181
Asset impairments	0	7	0	7
Business realignment costs	12	2	18	11
Other operating expense (income), net	(1)	5	3	2
Operating income	57	49	115	94
Interest expense, net	76	76	153	150
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt		0	0	6
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	3	(2)	5	3
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(22)	(25)	(43)	(65)
Income tax (benefit) expense	11	6	21	(26)
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(33)	(31)	(64)	(39)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	6	3	10	7
Net income	(27)	(28)	(54)	(32)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(29)	(43)	(50)	(60)
Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. [Member]
Net sales	595	572	1,173	1,109
Cost of sales	524	485	1,029	949
Gross profit	71	87	144	160
Selling, general and administrative expense	27	29	55	57
Asset impairments		0		0
Business realignment costs	10	2	15	6
Other operating expense (income), net	2	(1)	3	3
Operating income	32	57	71	94
Interest expense, net	7	8	15	18
Intercompany interest expense (income)	(44)	(47)	(87)	(91)
Loss on extinguishment of debt				2
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	5	(8)	5	7
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(24)	10	(36)	(24)
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	(4)	(1)	(42)
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(24)	14	(35)	18
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	(3)	(42)	(19)	(50)
Net income	(27)	(28)	(54)	(32)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(29)	(43)	(50)	(60)
Subsidiary Issuers [Member]
Net sales	0	0	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0	0	0
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0	0	0
Asset impairments		0		0
Business realignment costs	0	0	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0	0	(4)
Operating income	0	0	0	4
Interest expense, net	67	67	134	128
Intercompany interest expense (income)	68	67	136	130
Loss on extinguishment of debt				0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	0	0	0	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	1	0	2	6
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0	0	1
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	1	0	2	5
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	0	0	0	0
Net income	1	0	2	5
Comprehensive income (loss)	0	1	1	5
Combined Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Net sales	0	0	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0	0	0
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0	0	0
Asset impairments		0		0
Business realignment costs	0	0	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0	0	0
Operating income	0	0	0	0
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt				0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	0	0	0	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0	0	0
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0	0	0
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	5	(17)	4	(23)
Net income	5	(17)	4	(23)
Comprehensive income (loss)	6	(16)	5	(23)
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales	804	729	1,576	1,437
Cost of sales	712	664	1,393	1,302
Gross profit	92	65	183	135
Selling, general and administrative expense	68	60	136	124
Asset impairments		7		7
Business realignment costs	2	0	3	5
Other operating expense (income), net	(3)	6	0	3
Operating income	25	(8)	44	(4)
Interest expense, net	2	1	4	4
Intercompany interest expense (income)	(24)	(20)	(49)	(39)
Loss on extinguishment of debt				4
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	(2)	6	0	(4)
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	1	(35)	(9)	(47)
Income tax (benefit) expense	11	10	22	15
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(10)	(45)	(31)	(62)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	1	1	2	2
Net income	(9)	(44)	(29)	(60)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(16)	(62)	(25)	(78)
Eliminations [Member]
Net sales	(62)	(51)	(119)	(104)
Cost of sales	(62)	(51)	(119)	(104)
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0	0	0
Asset impairments		0		0
Business realignment costs	0	0	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0	0	0
Operating income	0	0	0	0
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt				0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	0	0	0	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0	0	0
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0	0	0
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	3	61	23	78
Net income	3	61	23	78
Comprehensive income (loss)	$ 10	$ 77	$ 19	$ 96