Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Nov. 30, 2014	May 31, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Aug. 31, 2013	May 31, 2013
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 826,724	$ 513,288	$ 309,334	$ 309,334	$ 352,273
Accounts receivable, net	510,153	508,427
Inventories, net	235,860	251,239
Uniforms and other rental items in service	528,332	506,537
Income taxes, current		0
Deferred Tax Assets, Net, Current	0
Assets held for sale	21,320	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	23,591	26,190
Total current assets	2,145,980	1,805,681
Property and equipment, at cost, net	845,127	855,702
Investments	456,864	458,357
Goodwill	1,189,360	1,267,411
Service contracts, net	41,590	55,675
Other assets, net	18,650	19,626
Total assets	4,697,571	4,462,452	4,365,398
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	171,629	150,070
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	60,448	85,026
Accrued liabilities	502,861	299,727
Income taxes, current	17,459	5,960
Deferred tax liability	98,313	88,845
Liabilities held for sale	1,054	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	503
Total current liabilities	851,764	630,131
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,000	1,300,477
Deferred income taxes	233,597	246,044
Accrued liabilities	108,876	92,942
Total long-term liabilities	1,642,473	1,639,463
Total shareholders’ equity	2,203,334	2,192,858
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,697,571	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
Deferred Tax Assets, Net, 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	1,399,495	1,378,100
Total assets	1,720,578	1,699,183
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,246)	(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	(465,246)	(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	2,185,824	2,164,430
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,720,578	1,699,183
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	78,454	73,540		69,393	54,511
Accounts receivable, net	369,156	366,629
Inventories, net	205,260	215,974
Uniforms and other rental items in service	391,666	374,666
Income taxes, current		1,549
Deferred Tax Assets, Net, Current	484
Assets held for sale	21,320
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	4,798	7,058
Total current assets	1,071,138	1,039,416
Property and equipment, at cost, net	511,671	533,665
Investments	2,083,114	2,081,094
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	41,531	51,248
Other assets, net	7,798	8,900
Total assets	3,715,252	3,714,323
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(691,066)	(545,526)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	39,839	56,581
Accrued liabilities	67,586	79,614
Income taxes, current	10,396	0
Deferred tax liability	0	(510)
Liabilities held for sale	1,054
Long-term debt due within one year	292	773
Total current liabilities	(571,899)	(409,068)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,308,842	1,309,611
Deferred income taxes	(6)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,308,836	1,309,605
Total shareholders’ equity	2,978,315	2,813,786
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,715,252	3,714,323
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	640,555	399,525		210,433	247,070
Accounts receivable, net	106,807	97,869
Inventories, net	17,486	20,745
Uniforms and other rental items in service	117,622	112,467
Income taxes, current		(1,549)
Deferred Tax Assets, Net, Current	(484)
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	17,696	14,752
Total current assets	899,682	643,809
Property and equipment, at cost, net	257,085	225,677
Investments	891,165	893,647
Goodwill	1,172,788	1,211,716
Service contracts, net	42	53
Other assets, net	2,253,641	2,189,527
Total assets	5,474,403	5,164,429
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,265,849	1,092,545
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	16,441	22,590
Accrued liabilities	423,483	208,983
Income taxes, current	6,596	4,915
Deferred tax liability	89,787	80,575
Liabilities held for sale	0
Long-term debt due within one year	(292)	(270)
Total current liabilities	1,801,864	1,409,338
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(9,242)	(10,380)
Deferred income taxes	237,161	251,924
Accrued liabilities	107,860	92,069
Total long-term liabilities	335,779	333,613
Total shareholders’ equity	3,336,760	3,421,478
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	5,474,403	5,164,429
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	107,715	40,223		29,509	50,692
Accounts receivable, net	34,190	43,929
Inventories, net	9,994	9,650
Uniforms and other rental items in service	38,663	38,240
Income taxes, current		0
Deferred Tax Assets, Net, Current	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,097	4,380
Total current assets	191,659	136,422
Property and equipment, at cost, net	76,371	96,360
Investments	949,301	1,015,343
Goodwill	16,684	55,807
Service contracts, net	17	4,374
Other assets, net	8,628	9,044
Total assets	1,242,660	1,317,350
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	24,070	30,281
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,168	5,855
Accrued liabilities	11,792	11,876
Income taxes, current	467	1,045
Deferred tax liability	8,526	8,780
Liabilities held for sale	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	49,023	57,837
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	400	500
Deferred income taxes	(3,558)	(5,874)
Accrued liabilities	1,016	873
Total long-term liabilities	(2,142)	(4,501)
Total shareholders’ equity	1,195,779	1,264,014
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,242,660	1,317,350
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0		(1)	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	3,120	4,870
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(19,619)	(18,836)
Income taxes, current		0
Deferred Tax Assets, Net, Current	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(16,499)	(13,966)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,787,799)	(3,852,810)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(3,650,912)	(3,565,945)
Total assets	(7,455,322)	(7,432,833)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,022	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	38,022	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	(7,493,344)	(7,470,850)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (7,455,322)	$ (7,432,833)