Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Aug. 31, 2015	May. 31, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014	May. 31, 2014
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 146,860	$ 417,073	$ 581,453	$ 513,288
Marketable securities	53,354	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	531,127	496,130
Inventories, net	240,046	226,211
Uniforms and other rental items in service	537,120	534,005
Income taxes, current	0	936
Assets held for sale	194,275	21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	31,170	24,030
Total current assets	1,733,952	1,735,807
Property and equipment, at cost, net	896,786	871,421
Investments	123,494	329,692
Goodwill	1,272,503	1,195,612
Service contracts, net	75,306	42,434
Other assets, net	20,908	17,494
Total assets	4,122,949	4,192,460	4,556,270
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	131,956	109,607
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	53,018	88,423
Accrued liabilities	294,845	309,935
Income taxes, current	47,640	0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	103,410	112,389
Deferred tax liability associated with the investment in Shred-it	78,457	704
Long-term debt due within one year	250,000	0
Total current liabilities	959,326	621,058
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,050,000	1,300,000
Deferred income taxes	148,793	226,938
Accrued liabilities	116,161	112,009
Total long-term liabilities	1,314,954	1,638,947
Total shareholders’ equity	1,848,669	1,932,455
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,122,949	4,192,460
Cintas Corporation
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	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	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	1,082,343	1,154,596
Total assets	1,403,426	1,475,679
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	0
Deferred tax liability associated with the investment in Shred-it	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	1,868,673	1,940,926
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,403,426	1,475,679
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	74,082	74,145	75,744	73,540
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	392,911	358,560
Inventories, net	207,755	193,594
Uniforms and other rental items in service	402,093	399,017
Income taxes, current		1,191
Assets held for sale	171,106	21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	6,626	5,514
Total current assets	1,254,573	1,053,362
Property and equipment, at cost, net	533,178	523,690
Investments	1,769,572	1,956,320
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	73,308	42,400
Other assets, net	17,145	12,373
Total assets	3,647,776	3,588,145
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(900,579)	(877,042)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	34,861	59,752
Accrued liabilities	78,561	65,022
Income taxes, current	7,042
Deferred tax (asset) liability	(421)	(299)
Deferred tax liability associated with the investment in Shred-it	69,100	704
Long-term debt due within one year	250,317	293
Total current liabilities	(461,119)	(751,570)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,058,135	1,308,452
Deferred income taxes	(69,104)	(5)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	989,031	1,308,447
Total shareholders’ equity	3,119,864	3,031,268
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,647,776	3,588,145
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	45,339	249,203	466,645	399,525
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	106,001	104,964
Inventories, net	22,280	21,149
Uniforms and other rental items in service	118,059	117,473
Income taxes, current		(339)
Assets held for sale	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	23,490	17,492
Total current assets	315,169	509,942
Property and equipment, at cost, net	292,341	275,072
Investments	900,288	895,393
Goodwill	1,239,155	1,180,527
Service contracts, net	26	34
Other assets, net	2,961,709	2,741,950
Total assets	5,708,688	5,602,918
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,435,850	1,391,999
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	14,730	23,989
Accrued liabilities	205,269	232,500
Income taxes, current	40,759
Deferred tax (asset) liability	96,143	104,663
Deferred tax liability associated with the investment in Shred-it	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	(317)	(293)
Total current liabilities	1,792,434	1,752,858
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(8,725)	(9,766)
Deferred income taxes	229,712	229,266
Accrued liabilities	115,362	111,105
Total long-term liabilities	336,349	330,605
Total shareholders’ equity	3,579,905	3,519,455
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	5,708,688	5,602,918
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	27,439	93,725	39,064	40,223
Marketable securities	53,354	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	32,215	32,606
Inventories, net	9,624	8,870
Uniforms and other rental items in service	35,354	36,478
Income taxes, current		84
Assets held for sale	23,169	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,054	1,024
Total current assets	182,209	188,868
Property and equipment, at cost, net	71,267	72,659
Investments	936,126	956,461
Goodwill	33,460	15,197
Service contracts, net	1,972	0
Other assets, net	3,467	3,572
Total assets	1,228,501	1,236,757
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	23,927	21,876
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	3,427	4,682
Accrued liabilities	11,015	13,137
Income taxes, current	(161)
Deferred tax (asset) liability	7,688	8,025
Deferred tax liability associated with the investment in Shred-it	9,357	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	55,253	47,720
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	590	590
Deferred income taxes	(11,815)	(2,323)
Accrued liabilities	799	904
Total long-term liabilities	(10,426)	(829)
Total shareholders’ equity	1,183,674	1,189,866
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,228,501	1,236,757
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	387	2,598
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,386)	(18,963)
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(17,999)	(16,365)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,803,575)	(3,799,565)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(4,043,756)	(3,894,997)
Total assets	(7,865,442)	(7,711,039)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,005	38,021
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(724)
Income taxes, current	0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	0
Deferred tax liability associated with the investment in Shred-it	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,005	37,297
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	724
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	724
Total shareholders’ equity	(7,903,447)	(7,749,060)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (7,865,442)	$ (7,711,039)