Guarantor Non-Guarantor Subsidiary Financial Information Level 4 (Details) - Consolidating Statement of Operations (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Net sales	$ 1,347	$ 1,249	$ 3,977	$ 3,691
Cost of sales	1,188	1,092	3,491	3,239
Gross profit	159	157	486	452
Selling, general and administrative expense	84	93	275	274
Asset impairments	0	0	0	7
Business realignment costs	6	4	24	15
Other operating expense (income), net	4	2	7	4
Operating income	65	58	180	152
Interest expense, net	77	77	230	227
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt		0	0	6
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	18	(2)	23	1
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(30)	(17)	(73)	(82)
Income tax (benefit) expense	2	57	23	31
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(32)	(74)	(96)	(113)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	4	(2)	14	5
Net income	(28)	(76)	(82)	(108)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(67)	(48)	(117)	(108)
Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. [Member]
Net sales	597	553	1,770	1,662
Cost of sales	531	475	1,560	1,424
Gross profit	66	78	210	238
Selling, general and administrative expense	24	28	79	85
Asset impairments				0
Business realignment costs	4	2	19	8
Other operating expense (income), net	1	0	4	3
Operating income	37	48	108	142
Interest expense, net	8	7	23	25
Intercompany interest expense (income)	(45)	(31)	(132)	(122)
Loss on extinguishment of debt				2
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	62	(25)	67	(18)
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(78)	35	(114)	11
Income tax (benefit) expense	(1)	61	(2)	19
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(77)	(26)	(112)	(8)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	49	(50)	30	(100)
Net income	(28)	(76)	(82)	(108)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(67)	(48)	(117)	(108)
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
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	68	68	202	196
Intercompany interest expense (income)	68	69	204	199
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	1	2	7
Income tax (benefit) expense	(6)	0	(6)	1
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	6	1	8	6
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	0	0	0	0
Net income	6	1	8	6
Comprehensive income (loss)	7	1	8	6
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
Business realignment costs	0	0	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	(1)	1	1	(1)
Operating income	1	1	1	1
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	1	1	1	1
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0	0	0
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	1	1	1	1
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	26	(32)	30	(55)
Net income	27	(31)	31	(54)
Comprehensive income (loss)	26	(31)	31	(54)
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales	816	748	2,392	2,185
Cost of sales	723	669	2,116	1,971
Gross profit	93	79	276	214
Selling, general and administrative expense	60	65	196	189
Asset impairments				7
Business realignment costs	2	2	5	7
Other operating expense (income), net	4	3	(4)	6
Operating income	27	9	71	5
Interest expense, net	1	2	5	6
Intercompany interest expense (income)	(23)	(38)	(72)	(77)
Loss on extinguishment of debt				4
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	(44)	23	44	19
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	47	(54)	38	(101)
Income tax (benefit) expense	9	(4)	31	11
Income from continuing operations before earnings from unconsolidated entities	38	(50)	7	(112)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	2	0	4	2
Net income	40	(50)	11	(110)
Comprehensive income (loss)	35	(40)	10	(118)
Eliminations [Member]
Net sales	(66)	(52)	(185)	(156)
Cost of sales	(66)	(52)	(185)	(156)
Gross profit	0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0	0	0
Asset impairments				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	(73)	80	(50)	158
Net income	(73)	80	(50)	158
Comprehensive income (loss)	$ (68)	$ 70	$ (49)	$ 166