Long-Term Debt - Kronos Term Loan - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	7 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2014 Contran Subsequent Event	Feb. 28, 2014 2014 Term Loan Subsequent Event	Feb. 28, 2014 2014 Term Loan U.S. wholly-owned subsidiaries Subsequent Event	Feb. 28, 2014 2014 Term Loan Canadian first-tier European subsidiaries Subsequent Event	Jun. 30, 2012 Kronos Worldwide, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2011 Kronos Worldwide, Inc.	Feb. 28, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Contran	Dec. 31, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Contran	Jul. 30, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Term Loan	Dec. 31, 2012 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Term Loan	Feb. 28, 2014 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. 2014 Term Loan Subsequent Event	Feb. 28, 2014 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. 2014 Term Loan Remaining Proceeds Available For Use Subsequent Event	Feb. 28, 2014 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. 2014 Term Loan Libor Rate Subsequent Event	Feb. 28, 2014 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. 2014 Term Loan Base Rate Subsequent Event	Jul. 31, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Principal Prepayment Term Loan	Feb. 28, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Principal Prepayment Term Loan	Jul. 31, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Prepayment Funded By Borrowings Principal Prepayment Term Loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Payment of Principal Amount				$ 170,000,000														$ 100,000,000	$ 290,000,000
Pre Tax Interest Charge	(8,900,000)	(7,200,000)	(3,100,000)					7,200,000	200,000									2,300,000	6,600,000
Cash used for payment of term loan																		50,000,000	100,000,000	50,000,000
Borrowing from Contran for prepayment of term loan																			190,000,000
Percentage of average interest rate, during period											7.375%	6.80%
Unamortized discount balance													5,500,000
Principal amount of promissory note														350,000,000
Percentage of loan issued to principal amount														99.50%
Borrowings under credit facility during the period														348,250,000	172,800,000
Minimum LIBOR rate														1.00%
Debt instrument, Variable rate spread																3.75%	2.75%
Quarterly principal repayments											5,000,000			875,000
Quarterly principle repayments, commencing date														Jun. 30, 2014
Loans maturity period										Jun. 30, 2018				Feb. 28, 2020
Long term debt prepayments terms														Voluntary principal prepayments are permitted at any time, provided that a call premium of 1% of the principal amount of such prepayment applies to any voluntary prepayment made on or before February 2015 (there is no prepayment penalty applicable to any voluntary prepayment after February 2015)
Call premium percentage														1.00%
Voluntary prepayment, earliest date														Feb. 28, 2015
Term Loan Collateralized Priority						100.00%	65.00%
Loan pledged as collateral from wholly-owned subsidiary					395,700,000
Minimum amount of debt default for using customary default provisions					$ 50,000,000