Guarantor Non-Guarantor Subsidiary Financial Information Level 4 (Details) - Consolidating Statement of Operations - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Net sales	$ 3,438	$ 4,140	$ 5,137
Cost of sales	3,038	3,540	4,576
Gross profit	400	600	561
Selling, general and administrative expense	328	306	399
Asset and goodwill impairment	0	6	5
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business	(240)	0	0
Business realignment costs	55	16	47
Other operating expense (income), net	(13)	12	(8)
Operating income	244	260	118
Interest expense, net	(310)	326	308
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	0
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt	(48)	(41)	0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	7	(3)	32
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(11)	(22)	(222)
Income tax (benefit) expense	38	34	22
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	49	56	244
Earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	11	17	20
Net income from continuing operations		(39)	(224)
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(38)	(39)	(224)
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	(1)	1
Net income	(38)	(40)	(223)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(62)	(128)	(280)
Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. [Member]
Net sales	1,449	1,715	2,259
Cost of sales	1,370	1,528	2,001
Gross profit	79	187	258
Selling, general and administrative expense	142	134	102
Asset and goodwill impairment		0	0
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business	(188)
Business realignment costs	39	7	31
Other operating expense (income), net	(18)	16	(11)
Operating income	68	30	136
Interest expense, net	(300)	317	300
Intercompany interest expense (income)	(72)	(80)	(92)
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt	(48)	(41)
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	(17)	94	101
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(129)	(260)	(173)
Income tax (benefit) expense	(3)	(2)	(6)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(126)	258	167
Earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	88	218	(56)
Net income from continuing operations		(40)	(223)
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(38)
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		0	0
Net income		(40)	(223)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(62)	(128)	(280)
Combined Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Net sales	0	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0	0
Gross profit	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0	0
Asset and goodwill impairment		0	0
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business	0
Business realignment costs	0	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	(5)	0	(4)
Operating income	(5)	0	4
Interest expense, net	0	0	0
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	(1)
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	0	0	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(5)	0	5
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0	0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(5)	0	5
Earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	31	132	31
Net income from continuing operations		132	36
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	26
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		0	0
Net income		132	36
Comprehensive income (loss)	25	133	35
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales	2,171	2,603	3,109
Cost of sales	1,850	2,190	2,806
Gross profit	321	413	303
Selling, general and administrative expense	186	172	297
Asset and goodwill impairment		6	5
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business	(52)
Business realignment costs	16	9	16
Other operating expense (income), net	10	(4)	7
Operating income	181	230	(22)
Interest expense, net	(10)	9	8
Intercompany interest expense (income)	72	80	93
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	24	(97)	(69)
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	123	238	(54)
Income tax (benefit) expense	41	36	28
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	82	(202)	(82)
Earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	5	1	5
Net income from continuing operations		203	(77)
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	87
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		(1)	1
Net income		202	(76)
Comprehensive income (loss)	66	156	(81)
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Net sales	(182)	(178)	(231)
Cost of sales	(182)	(178)	(231)
Gross profit	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0	0
Asset and goodwill impairment		0	0
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business	0
Business realignment costs	0	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0	0
Operating income	0	0	0
Interest expense, net	0	0	0
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0	0
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other non-operating (income) expense, net	0	0	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0	0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	0	0	0
Earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	(113)	(334)	40
Net income from continuing operations		(334)	40
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(113)
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		0	0
Net income		(334)	40
Comprehensive income (loss)	$ (91)	$ (289)	$ 46