Supplemental Guarantor Information (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Nov. 30, 2012	May 31, 2012	Nov. 30, 2011	May 31, 2011
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 242,487	$ 339,825	$ 207,772	$ 438,106
Marketable securities	33,862	0
Accounts receivable, net	479,106	450,861
Inventories, net	236,195	251,205
Uniforms and other rental items in service	482,001	452,785
Income taxes, current	20,976	22,188
Prepaid expenses and other	25,035	24,704
Total current assets	1,519,662	1,541,568
Property and equipment, at cost, net	967,260	944,305
Goodwill	1,522,411	1,485,375
Service contracts, net	90,480	76,822
Other assets, net	118,069	112,836
Total assets	4,217,882	4,160,906	4,215,312
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	118,534	94,840
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	54,480	91,214
Accrued liabilities	325,077	256,642
Deferred tax (asset) liability	56,427	2,559
Long-term debt due within one year	661	225,636
Total current liabilities	555,179	670,891
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,308,829	1,059,166
Deferred income taxes	206,782	204,581
Accrued liabilities	66,448	87,133
Total long-term liabilities	1,582,059	1,350,880
Total shareholders’ equity	2,080,644	2,139,135
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,217,882	4,160,906
Cintas Corporation [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Uniforms and other rental items in service	0	0
Income taxes, current	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,569,229	1,637,225
Total assets	1,569,229	1,637,225
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(465,247)	(465,247)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	2,034,476	2,102,472
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,569,229	1,637,225
Corp. 2 [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	45,036	58,737	44,770	54,957
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	350,351	327,442
Inventories, net	200,445	210,283
Uniforms and other rental items in service	353,213	337,298
Income taxes, current	(5,510)	5,296
Prepaid expenses and other	7,766	7,905
Total current assets	951,301	946,961
Property and equipment, at cost, net	612,243	600,565
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	85,481	71,337
Other assets, net	1,627,395	1,628,516
Total assets	3,276,420	3,247,379
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(549,502)	(475,624)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	37,444	63,797
Accrued liabilities	64,319	67,651
Deferred tax (asset) liability	(557)	(538)
Long-term debt due within one year	910	225,866
Total current liabilities	(447,386)	(118,848)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,318,234	1,068,820
Deferred income taxes	(7)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,318,227	1,068,814
Total shareholders’ equity	2,405,579	2,297,413
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,276,420	3,247,379
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	167,453	229,287	134,899	313,283
Marketable securities	9,781
Accounts receivable, net	88,484	81,243
Inventories, net	22,519	20,258
Uniforms and other rental items in service	110,312	101,435
Income taxes, current	12,009	3,642
Prepaid expenses and other	13,940	12,770
Total current assets	424,498	448,635
Property and equipment, at cost, net	263,130	259,744
Goodwill	1,452,020	1,419,535
Service contracts, net	229	326
Other assets, net	2,633,892	2,467,198
Total assets	4,773,769	4,595,438
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,075,016	978,932
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	12,359	21,619
Accrued liabilities	249,467	176,220
Deferred tax (asset) liability	53,401	(87)
Long-term debt due within one year	(249)	(230)
Total current liabilities	1,389,994	1,176,454
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(10,253)	(11,288)
Deferred income taxes	200,880	199,404
Accrued liabilities	65,541	86,406
Total long-term liabilities	256,168	274,522
Total shareholders’ equity	3,127,607	3,144,462
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,773,769	4,595,438
Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	29,998	51,801	28,103	69,866
Marketable securities	24,081
Accounts receivable, net	40,271	42,176
Inventories, net	10,545	10,781
Uniforms and other rental items in service	37,406	35,051
Income taxes, current	14,477	13,250
Prepaid expenses and other	3,329	4,029
Total current assets	160,107	157,088
Property and equipment, at cost, net	91,887	83,996
Goodwill	70,391	65,840
Service contracts, net	4,770	5,159
Other assets, net	760,007	759,439
Total assets	1,087,162	1,071,522
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	20,248	18,760
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,677	5,798
Accrued liabilities	11,291	13,557
Deferred tax (asset) liability	3,583	3,184
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	39,799	41,299
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	848	848
Deferred income taxes	5,909	5,183
Accrued liabilities	907	727
Total long-term liabilities	7,664	6,758
Total shareholders’ equity	1,039,699	1,023,465
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,087,162	1,071,522
Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	2,686	9,883
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,930)	(20,999)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0	0
Total current assets	(16,244)	(11,116)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(6,472,454)	(6,379,542)
Total assets	(6,488,698)	(6,390,658)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,019	38,019
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(786)
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,019	37,233
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	786
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	786
Total shareholders’ equity	(6,526,717)	(6,428,677)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (6,488,698)	$ (6,390,658)