Guarantor Non-Guarantor Subsidiary Financial Information Level 4 (Details) - Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	$ (132)	$ (23)
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
Capital expenditures	(133)	(96)
Proceeds from the sale of (purchases of) debt securities, net	(4)	(1)
Capitalized interest	0	(1)
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	1
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	(64)
Capital contribution to subsidiary	0	0
Proceeds from Sale of Other Assets		1
Return of capital from subsidiary from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Change in restricted cash	(2)	4
Deconsolidation of Variable Interest Entity	(50)
Repayments of Related Party Debt	50	0
Funds remitted to unconsolidated affiliates	(2)	(13)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(205)	(106)
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
Net short-term debt (repayments) borrowings	25	16
Borrowings of long-term debt	213	1,128
Repayments of long-term debt	(174)	(1,045)
Net Intercompany Loan Borrowings (Repayments)	0	0
Long-term debt and credit facility financing fees	0	(37)
Capital contribution from parent	0	0
Common stock dividends paid	0	0
Return of capital to parent from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	64	62
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	(5)	(2)
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(278)	(69)
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at beginning of period	379	401
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at end of period	101	332
Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. [Member]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(349)	(33)
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
Capital expenditures	(74)	(49)
Proceeds from the sale of (purchases of) debt securities, net	0	0
Capitalized interest		0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	(52)
Capital contribution to subsidiary	(16)	(15)
Proceeds from Sale of Other Assets		0
Return of capital from subsidiary from sales of accounts receivable	272	126
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Deconsolidation of Variable Interest Entity	0
Repayments of Related Party Debt	0
Funds remitted to unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	130	62
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
Net short-term debt (repayments) borrowings	8	0
Borrowings of long-term debt	155	0
Repayments of long-term debt	(110)	(545)
Net Intercompany Loan Borrowings (Repayments)	10	437
Long-term debt and credit facility financing fees		(13)
Capital contribution from parent	0	0
Common stock dividends paid	0	0
Return of capital to parent from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	63	(121)
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(156)	(92)
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at beginning of period	165	276
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at end of period	9	184
Subsidiary Issuers [Member]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(3)	1
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
Capital expenditures	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of (purchases of) debt securities, net	0	0
Capitalized interest		0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	0
Capital contribution to subsidiary	0	0
Proceeds from Sale of Other Assets		0
Return of capital from subsidiary from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Deconsolidation of Variable Interest Entity	0
Repayments of Related Party Debt	0
Funds remitted to unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	0	0
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
Net short-term debt (repayments) borrowings	0	0
Borrowings of long-term debt	0	1,108
Repayments of long-term debt	0	(120)
Net Intercompany Loan Borrowings (Repayments)	0	(882)
Long-term debt and credit facility financing fees		(24)
Capital contribution from parent	0	0
Common stock dividends paid	0	(83)
Return of capital to parent from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	0	(1)
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(3)	0
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at beginning of period	5	0
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at end of period	2	0
Combined Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	9	17
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
Capital expenditures	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of (purchases of) debt securities, net	0	0
Capitalized interest		0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	0
Capital contribution to subsidiary	(10)	(10)
Proceeds from Sale of Other Assets		0
Return of capital from subsidiary from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Deconsolidation of Variable Interest Entity	0
Repayments of Related Party Debt	0
Funds remitted to unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(10)	(10)
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
Net short-term debt (repayments) borrowings	0	0
Borrowings of long-term debt	0	0
Repayments of long-term debt	0	0
Net Intercompany Loan Borrowings (Repayments)	0	(2)
Long-term debt and credit facility financing fees		0
Capital contribution from parent	10	10
Common stock dividends paid	(9)	(15)
Return of capital to parent from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	1	(7)
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at beginning of period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at end of period	0	0
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	220	90
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
Capital expenditures	(59)	(47)
Proceeds from the sale of (purchases of) debt securities, net	(4)	(1)
Capitalized interest		(1)
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	(12)
Capital contribution to subsidiary	0	0
Proceeds from Sale of Other Assets		1
Return of capital from subsidiary from sales of accounts receivable	0	0
Change in restricted cash	(2)	4
Deconsolidation of Variable Interest Entity	(50)
Repayments of Related Party Debt	(50)
Funds remitted to unconsolidated affiliates	(2)	(13)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(79)	(57)
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
Net short-term debt (repayments) borrowings	17	16
Borrowings of long-term debt	58	20
Repayments of long-term debt	(64)	(380)
Net Intercompany Loan Borrowings (Repayments)	(10)	447
Long-term debt and credit facility financing fees		0
Capital contribution from parent	16	15
Common stock dividends paid	0	0
Return of capital to parent from sales of accounts receivable	(272)	(126)
Net cash used in financing activities	(255)	(8)
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	(5)	(2)
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(119)	23
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at beginning of period	209	125
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at end of period	90	148
Eliminations [Member]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(9)	(98)
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
Capital expenditures	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of (purchases of) debt securities, net	0	0
Capitalized interest		0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	0
Capital contribution to subsidiary	26	25
Proceeds from Sale of Other Assets		0
Return of capital from subsidiary from sales of accounts receivable	(272)	(126)
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Deconsolidation of Variable Interest Entity	0
Repayments of Related Party Debt	0
Funds remitted to unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(246)	(101)
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
Net short-term debt (repayments) borrowings	0	0
Borrowings of long-term debt	0	0
Repayments of long-term debt	0	0
Net Intercompany Loan Borrowings (Repayments)	0	0
Long-term debt and credit facility financing fees		0
Capital contribution from parent	(26)	(25)
Common stock dividends paid	9	98
Return of capital to parent from sales of accounts receivable	272	126
Net cash used in financing activities	255	199
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at beginning of period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) at end of period	$ 0	$ 0