Guarantor Non-Guarantor Subsidiary Financial Information Level 4 (Details) - Consolidating Statement of Operations - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Net sales	$ 870	$ 909
Cost of sales	737	802
Gross profit	133	107
Selling, general and administrative expense	77	84
Gain on Disposition of Assets	3	(1)
Business realignment costs	7	3
Other operating expense (income), net	(6)	3
Operating income	55	17
Interest expense, net	83	79
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt	3	(23)
Other non-operating expense, net	4	2
Loss before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(35)	(41)
Income tax (benefit) expense	8	7
Loss before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(43)	(48)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	1	4
Net loss	(42)	(44)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(36)	(18)
Hexion Inc. [Member]
Net sales	378	381
Cost of sales	322	374
Gross profit	56	7
Selling, general and administrative expense	31	39
Business realignment costs	4	1
Other operating expense (income), net	(6)	2
Operating income	27	(35)
Interest expense, net	80	77
Intercompany interest expense (income)	(17)	(19)
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt	3	(23)
Other non-operating expense, net	(6)	(35)
Loss before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(33)	(35)
Income tax (benefit) expense	(6)	(4)
Loss before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(27)	(31)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	(15)	(13)
Net loss	(42)	(44)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(36)	(18)
Combined Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Net sales	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0
Gross profit	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0
Business realignment costs	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0
Operating income	0	0
Interest expense, net	0	0
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other non-operating expense, net	0	0
Loss before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0
Loss before earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	(2)	(5)
Net loss	(2)	(5)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(3)	(6)
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales	543	578
Cost of sales	466	478
Gross profit	77	100
Selling, general and administrative expense	46	45
Business realignment costs	3	2
Other operating expense (income), net	0	1
Operating income	28	52
Interest expense, net	3	2
Intercompany interest expense (income)	17	19
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other non-operating expense, net	10	37
Loss before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	(2)	(6)
Income tax (benefit) expense	14	11
Loss before earnings from unconsolidated entities	(16)	(17)
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	1	0
Net loss	(15)	(17)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(3)	(2)
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Net sales	(51)	(50)
Cost of sales	(51)	(50)
Gross profit	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expense	0	0
Business realignment costs	0	0
Other operating expense (income), net	0	0
Operating income	0	0
Interest expense, net	0	0
Intercompany interest expense (income)	0	0
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other non-operating expense, net	0	0
Loss before income tax and earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0
Loss before earnings from unconsolidated entities	0	0
(Losses) earnings from unconsolidated entities, net of taxes	17	22
Net loss	17	22
Comprehensive income (loss)	$ 6	$ 8