Pension and Postretirement Benefit Plans (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Y RetirementPlans Countries	Jun. 30, 2009 Y	Mar. 31, 2011 LimitedPartner	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Jun. 30, 2010 International Qualified and Non-qualified Pension Benefits	Dec. 31, 2009 International Qualified and Non-qualified Pension Benefits	Dec. 31, 2011 International Qualified and Non-qualified Pension Benefits RetirementPlans Countries	Dec. 31, 2011 United States Qualified Pension Benefits	Dec. 31, 2010 Postretirement Benefits
Benefit Plan Information
Company-sponsored retirement plans, minimum number of worldwide plans	65
Company-sponsored retirement plans, minimum number of international plans								65
Company-sponsored retirement plans, number of countries	25							24
Percentage of funding target for defined benefit pension plans, of the target liability by 2011									100.00%
Accumulated postretirement benefit obligation increase (decrease)				$ 69	$ (168)
Maximum percentage of medical inflation absorbed by the company (percent expressed as a decimal)										3.00%
Brazilian subsidiary defined benefit plan curtailment gain						22
Special termination benefits - number of additional years of pension service	1	1
Special termination benefits - number of additional years of age for certain benefit calculations	1	1
Special termination benefits - number of participants	616	700
Special termination benefits charge	26	21
Settlement charge incurred on lump sum payments to 3M Sumitomo (Japan) plan participants							$ 17
Percentage of WG Trading Company holdings in relation to total fair value of the company's total plan assets high end of range (percent expressed as a decimal)	1.00%
Number of additional limited partners of WG Trading Company, in addition to 3M, who objected and appealed the court's order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit			6