Supplemental Guarantor Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Aug. 31, 2014	May 31, 2014	Aug. 31, 2013	May 31, 2013
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 581,453	$ 513,288	$ 278,670	$ 352,273
Accounts receivable, net	489,211	508,427
Inventories, net	249,817	251,239
Uniforms and other rental items in service	513,615	506,537
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale	151,263	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	27,590	26,190
Total current assets	2,012,949	1,805,681
Property and equipment, at cost, net	838,493	855,702
Investments	451,897	458,357
Goodwill	1,189,968	1,267,411
Service contracts, net	44,185	55,675
Other assets, net	18,778	19,626
Total assets	4,556,270	4,462,452	4,311,177
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	141,795	150,070
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	44,060	85,026
Accrued liabilities	292,548	299,727
Income taxes, current	54,595	5,960
Deferred tax liability	87,842	88,845
Liabilities held for sale	15,171	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	503
Total current liabilities	636,011	630,131
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,000	1,300,477
Deferred income taxes	242,459	246,044
Accrued liabilities	105,826	92,942
Total long-term liabilities	1,648,285	1,639,463
Total shareholders’ equity	2,271,974	2,192,858
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,556,270	4,462,452
Cintas Corporation
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Uniforms and other rental items in service	0	0
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	321,083	321,083
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,458,826	1,378,100
Total assets	1,779,909	1,699,183
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0	0
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Liabilities held for sale	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	2,245,156	2,164,430
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,779,909	1,699,183
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	75,744	73,540	64,369	54,511
Accounts receivable, net	352,695	366,629
Inventories, net	217,040	215,974
Uniforms and other rental items in service	379,116	374,666
Income taxes, current		1,549
Assets held for sale	44,020
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	5,267	7,058
Total current assets	1,073,882	1,039,416
Property and equipment, at cost, net	504,314	533,665
Investments	2,082,815	2,081,094
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	44,131	51,248
Other assets, net	8,349	8,900
Total assets	3,713,491	3,714,323
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(606,528)	(545,526)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	28,314	56,581
Accrued liabilities	45,253	79,614
Income taxes, current	5,366	0
Deferred tax liability	(508)	(510)
Liabilities held for sale	1,617
Long-term debt due within one year	292	773
Total current liabilities	(526,194)	(409,068)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,308,842	1,309,611
Deferred income taxes	(824)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,308,018	1,309,605
Total shareholders’ equity	2,931,667	2,813,786
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,713,491	3,714,323
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	466,645	399,525	190,896	247,070
Accounts receivable, net	101,722	97,869
Inventories, net	18,315	20,745
Uniforms and other rental items in service	114,140	112,467
Income taxes, current		(1,549)
Assets held for sale	39,836
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	21,040	14,752
Total current assets	761,698	643,809
Property and equipment, at cost, net	254,873	225,677
Investments	886,466	893,647
Goodwill	1,172,573	1,211,716
Service contracts, net	47	53
Other assets, net	2,251,081	2,189,527
Total assets	5,326,738	5,164,429
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,154,807	1,092,545
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	12,385	22,590
Accrued liabilities	238,399	208,983
Income taxes, current	47,065	4,915
Deferred tax liability	79,514	80,575
Liabilities held for sale	8,093
Long-term debt due within one year	(292)	(270)
Total current liabilities	1,539,971	1,409,338
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(9,242)	(10,380)
Deferred income taxes	246,975	251,924
Accrued liabilities	104,739	92,069
Total long-term liabilities	342,472	333,613
Total shareholders’ equity	3,444,295	3,421,478
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	5,326,738	5,164,429
Non-Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	39,064	40,223	23,405	50,692
Accounts receivable, net	34,794	43,929
Inventories, net	10,758	9,650
Uniforms and other rental items in service	39,259	38,240
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale	67,407
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,283	4,380
Total current assets	192,565	136,422
Property and equipment, at cost, net	79,306	96,360
Investments	1,024,343	1,015,343
Goodwill	17,507	55,807
Service contracts, net	7	4,374
Other assets, net	8,633	9,044
Total assets	1,322,361	1,317,350
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	20,742	30,281
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	3,361	5,855
Accrued liabilities	8,896	11,876
Income taxes, current	2,164	1,045
Deferred tax liability	8,836	8,780
Liabilities held for sale	5,461
Long-term debt due within one year		0
Total current liabilities	49,460	57,837
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	400	500
Deferred income taxes	(3,692)	(5,874)
Accrued liabilities	1,087	873
Total long-term liabilities	(2,205)	(4,501)
Total shareholders’ equity	1,275,106	1,264,014
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,322,361	1,317,350
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	3,704	4,870
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,900)	(18,836)
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(15,196)	(13,966)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,862,810)	(3,852,810)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(3,708,111)	(3,565,945)
Total assets	(7,586,229)	(7,432,833)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,021	38,017
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(746)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Liabilities held for sale	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,021	37,271
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	746
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	746
Total shareholders’ equity	(7,624,250)	(7,470,850)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (7,586,229)	$ (7,432,833)