Supplemental Guarantor Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $)	May 31, 2013	May 31, 2012	May 31, 2011	May 31, 2010
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 352,273,000	$ 339,825,000	$ 438,106,000	$ 411,281,000
Marketable securities	5,680,000	0
Accounts receivable, net	496,049,000	450,861,000
Inventories, net	240,440,000	251,205,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	496,752,000	452,785,000
Income taxes, current	9,102,000	22,188,000
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0
Prepaid expenses	24,530,000	21,222,000
Total current assets	1,624,826,000	1,538,086,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	986,703,000	952,587,000
Goodwill	1,517,560,000	1,485,375,000	1,487,882,000
Service contracts, net	92,153,000	76,822,000
Other assets, net	124,390,000	112,836,000
Total assets	4,345,632,000	4,165,706,000	4,351,940,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	121,029,000	94,840,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	78,050,000	91,214,000
Accrued liabilities	271,821,000	261,442,000
Deferred tax liability	77,169,000	2,559,000
Long-term debt due within one year	8,187,000	225,636,000
Total current liabilities	556,256,000	675,691,000
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,979,000	1,059,166,000
Deferred income taxes	210,483,000	204,581,000
Accrued liabilities	76,422,000	87,133,000
Total long-term liabilities	1,587,884,000	1,350,880,000
Total shareholders' equity	2,201,492,000	2,139,135,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,345,632,000	4,165,706,000
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
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0
Prepaid expenses	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	1,698,122,000	1,637,225,000
Total assets	1,698,122,000	1,637,225,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247,000)	(465,247,000)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(465,247,000)	(465,247,000)
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	2,163,369,000	2,102,472,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,698,122,000	1,637,225,000
Corp. 2 [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	54,511,000	58,737,000	54,957,000	34,905,000
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	355,429,000	327,442,000
Inventories, net	201,260,000	210,283,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	363,662,000	337,298,000
Income taxes, current	4,172,000	5,296,000
Deferred tax asset (liability)	534,000
Prepaid expenses	7,450,000	7,905,000
Total current assets	987,018,000	946,961,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	631,480,000	605,015,000
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	88,157,000	71,337,000
Other assets, net	1,627,505,000	1,628,516,000
Total assets	3,334,160,000	3,251,829,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(561,454,000)	(475,624,000)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	54,591,000	63,797,000
Accrued liabilities	67,490,000	72,101,000
Deferred tax liability	0	(538,000)
Long-term debt due within one year	8,436,000	225,866,000
Total current liabilities	(430,937,000)	(114,398,000)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,310,384,000	1,068,820,000
Deferred income taxes	(6,000)	(6,000)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,310,378,000	1,068,814,000
Total shareholders' equity	2,454,719,000	2,297,413,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,334,160,000	3,251,829,000
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	247,070,000	229,287,000	313,283,000	339,702,000
Marketable securities	5,680,000
Accounts receivable, net	96,569,000	81,243,000
Inventories, net	25,584,000	20,258,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	113,024,000	101,435,000
Income taxes, current	3,437,000	3,642,000
Deferred tax asset (liability)	(534,000)
Prepaid expenses	12,909,000	9,288,000
Total current assets	503,739,000	445,153,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	259,586,000	263,576,000
Goodwill	1,449,445,000	1,419,535,000
Service contracts, net	166,000	326,000
Other assets, net	2,698,197,000	2,467,198,000
Total assets	4,911,133,000	4,595,788,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,084,986,000	978,932,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	17,642,000	21,619,000
Accrued liabilities	193,261,000	176,570,000
Deferred tax liability	68,231,000	(87,000)
Long-term debt due within one year	(249,000)	(230,000)
Total current liabilities	1,363,871,000	1,176,804,000
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(11,020,000)	(11,288,000)
Deferred income taxes	216,368,000	199,404,000
Accrued liabilities	75,571,000	86,406,000
Total long-term liabilities	280,919,000	274,522,000
Total shareholders' equity	3,266,343,000	3,144,462,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,911,133,000	4,595,788,000
Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	50,692,000	51,801,000	69,866,000	36,674,000
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	44,051,000	42,176,000
Inventories, net	10,342,000	10,781,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	38,917,000	35,051,000
Income taxes, current	1,493,000	13,250,000
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0
Prepaid expenses	4,171,000	4,029,000
Total current assets	149,666,000	157,088,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	95,637,000	83,996,000
Goodwill	68,115,000	65,840,000
Service contracts, net	3,830,000	5,159,000
Other assets, net	768,903,000	759,439,000
Total assets	1,086,151,000	1,071,522,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	24,728,000	18,760,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	5,817,000	5,798,000
Accrued liabilities	11,837,000	13,557,000
Deferred tax liability	8,938,000	3,184,000
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	51,320,000	41,299,000
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	848,000	848,000
Deferred income taxes	(5,879,000)	5,183,000
Accrued liabilities	851,000	727,000
Total long-term liabilities	(4,180,000)	6,758,000
Total shareholders' equity	1,039,011,000	1,023,465,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,086,151,000	1,071,522,000
Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	3,254,000	9,883,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,851,000)	(20,999,000)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Total current assets	(15,597,000)	(11,116,000)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(6,668,337,000)	(6,379,542,000)
Total assets	(6,683,934,000)	(6,390,658,000)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,016,000	38,019,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	(767,000)	(786,000)
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	37,249,000	37,233,000
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	767,000	786,000
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	767,000	786,000
Total shareholders' equity	(6,721,950,000)	(6,428,677,000)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (6,683,934,000)	$ (6,390,658,000)