Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2015	Nov. 30, 2014	Nov. 30, 2015	Nov. 30, 2014
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services	$ 937,704	$ 891,475	$ 1,876,112	$ 1,765,173
Other	281,376	231,904	541,858	460,283
Equity in net income of affiliates	0	0	0	0
Total revenue	1,219,080	1,123,379	2,417,970	2,225,456
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services	526,091	505,823	1,044,594	996,498
Cost of other	165,589	136,132	321,832	269,588
Selling and administrative expenses	327,051	299,841	665,688	614,299
Operating income	200,349	181,583	385,856	345,071
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment	0	0	0	21,739
Interest income	(111)	(19)	(230)	(72)
Interest expense (income)	16,171	15,929	32,583	32,512
Income before income taxes	184,289	165,673	353,503	334,370
Income taxes	68,836	61,972	131,852	124,764
Income from continuing operations	115,453	103,701	221,651	209,606
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	229,647	16,711	223,630	20,914
Net income	345,100	120,412	445,281	230,520
Cintas Corporation
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0
Equity in net income of affiliates	115,453	103,701	221,651	209,606
Total revenue	115,453	103,701	221,651	209,606
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services	0	0	0	0
Cost of other	0	0	0	0
Selling and administrative expenses	0	0	0	0
Operating income	115,453	103,701	221,651	209,606
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment				0
Interest income	0	0	0	0
Interest expense (income)	0	0	0	0
Income before income taxes	115,453	103,701	221,651	209,606
Income taxes	0	0	0	0
Income from continuing operations	115,453	103,701	221,651	209,606
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	229,647	16,711	223,630	20,914
Net income	345,100	120,412	445,281	230,520
Corp. 2
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services	723,216	678,360	1,444,545	1,344,234
Other	394,257	348,293	766,868	684,773
Equity in net income of affiliates	0	0	0	0
Total revenue	1,117,473	1,026,653	2,211,413	2,029,007
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services	455,311	429,237	895,891	837,608
Cost of other	248,687	222,407	486,056	440,349
Selling and administrative expenses	345,802	308,653	692,878	622,655
Operating income	67,673	66,356	136,588	128,395
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment				0
Interest income	(12)	(5)	(12)	(10)
Interest expense (income)	16,427	16,435	32,802	32,844
Income before income taxes	51,258	49,926	103,798	95,561
Income taxes	18,751	18,548	38,340	35,296
Income from continuing operations	32,507	31,378	65,458	60,265
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	234,604	14,956	229,281	19,219
Net income	267,111	46,334	294,739	79,484
Subsidiary Guarantors
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services	199,877	188,424	402,142	371,605
Other	740	525	2,033	1,006
Equity in net income of affiliates	0	0	0	0
Total revenue	200,617	188,949	404,175	372,611
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services	112,832	104,226	229,664	215,148
Cost of other	(8,734)	(6,194)	(17,377)	(16,851)
Selling and administrative expenses	(30,159)	(19,158)	(49,014)	(33,164)
Operating income	126,678	110,075	240,902	207,478
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment				21,739
Interest income	(68)	(15)	(116)	(63)
Interest expense (income)	(256)	(497)	(218)	(327)
Income before income taxes	127,002	110,587	241,236	229,607
Income taxes	47,071	41,842	89,662	85,846
Income from continuing operations	79,931	68,745	151,574	143,761
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	0	0	0
Net income	79,931	68,745	151,574	143,761
Non- Guarantors
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services	53,674	59,311	107,686	119,172
Other	17,516	15,332	32,327	29,076
Equity in net income of affiliates	0	0	0	0
Total revenue	71,190	74,643	140,013	148,248
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services	37,596	40,756	74,953	81,038
Cost of other	10,655	8,963	20,225	17,920
Selling and administrative expenses	16,140	18,450	34,020	37,524
Operating income	6,799	6,474	10,815	11,766
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment				0
Interest income	(31)	0	(102)	0
Interest expense (income)	0	(9)	(1)	(5)
Income before income taxes	6,830	6,483	10,918	11,771
Income taxes	3,042	1,601	3,903	3,652
Income from continuing operations	3,788	4,882	7,015	8,119
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	(4,957)	1,755	(5,651)	1,695
Net income	(1,169)	6,637	1,364	9,814
Eliminations
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services	(39,063)	(34,620)	(78,261)	(69,838)
Other	(131,137)	(132,246)	(259,370)	(254,572)
Equity in net income of affiliates	(115,453)	(103,701)	(221,651)	(209,606)
Total revenue	(285,653)	(270,567)	(559,282)	(534,016)
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services	(79,648)	(68,396)	(155,914)	(137,296)
Cost of other	(85,019)	(89,044)	(167,072)	(171,830)
Selling and administrative expenses	(4,732)	(8,104)	(12,196)	(12,716)
Operating income	(116,254)	(105,023)	(224,100)	(212,174)
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment				0
Interest income	0	1	0	1
Interest expense (income)	0	0	0	0
Income before income taxes	(116,254)	(105,024)	(224,100)	(212,175)
Income taxes	(28)	(19)	(53)	(30)
Income from continuing operations	(116,226)	(105,005)	(224,047)	(212,145)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	(229,647)	(16,711)	(223,630)	(20,914)
Net income	$ (345,873)	$ (121,716)	$ (447,677)	$ (233,059)