Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Nov. 30, 2015	May. 31, 2015	Nov. 30, 2014	May. 31, 2014
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 606,785	$ 417,073	$ 826,724	$ 513,288
Marketable securities	65,826	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	549,190	496,130
Inventories, net	251,477	226,211
Uniforms and other rental items in service	542,531	534,005
Income taxes, current	0	936
Assets held for sale	0	21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	27,471	24,030
Total current assets	2,043,280	1,735,807
Property and equipment, at cost, net	916,544	871,421
Investments	126,547	329,692
Goodwill	1,273,594	1,195,612
Service contracts, net	70,183	42,434
Other assets, net	20,644	17,494
Total assets	4,450,792	4,192,460	4,697,571
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	134,843	109,607
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	65,886	88,423
Accrued liabilities	443,713	309,935
Income taxes, current	236,539	0
Liabilities held for sale	0	704
Long-term debt due within one year	250,000	0
Total current liabilities	1,130,981	508,669
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,050,000	1,300,000
Deferred income taxes	227,465	339,327
Accrued liabilities	117,818	112,009
Total long-term liabilities	1,395,283	1,751,336
Total shareholders’ equity	1,924,528	1,932,455
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,450,792	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
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	1,155,878	1,154,596
Total assets	1,476,961	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
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	1,942,208	1,940,926
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,476,961	1,475,679
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	107,831	74,145	78,454	73,540
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	396,511	358,560
Inventories, net	218,921	193,594
Uniforms and other rental items in service	408,474	399,017
Income taxes, current		1,191
Assets held for sale		21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	6,339	5,514
Total current assets	1,138,076	1,053,362
Property and equipment, at cost, net	541,903	523,690
Investments	1,770,407	1,956,320
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	68,288	42,400
Other assets, net	223,680	12,373
Total assets	3,742,354	3,588,145
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,313,619)	(877,042)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	42,180	59,752
Accrued liabilities	89,580	65,022
Income taxes, current	228,718
Liabilities held for sale		704
Long-term debt due within one year	250,317	293
Total current liabilities	(702,824)	(751,271)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,058,135	1,308,452
Deferred income taxes	(418)	(304)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,057,717	1,308,148
Total shareholders’ equity	3,387,461	3,031,268
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,742,354	3,588,145
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	464,900	249,203	640,555	399,525
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	118,567	104,964
Inventories, net	23,197	21,149
Uniforms and other rental items in service	117,186	117,473
Income taxes, current		(339)
Assets held for sale		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	20,085	17,492
Total current assets	743,935	509,942
Property and equipment, at cost, net	304,076	275,072
Investments	902,506	895,393
Goodwill	1,240,155	1,180,527
Service contracts, net	21	34
Other assets, net	2,929,865	2,741,950
Total assets	6,120,558	5,602,918
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,849,138	1,391,999
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	19,472	23,989
Accrued liabilities	343,029	232,500
Income taxes, current	7,796
Liabilities held for sale		0
Long-term debt due within one year	(317)	(293)
Total current liabilities	2,219,118	1,648,195
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(8,525)	(9,766)
Deferred income taxes	220,906	333,929
Accrued liabilities	116,854	111,105
Total long-term liabilities	329,235	435,268
Total shareholders’ equity	3,572,205	3,519,455
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,120,558	5,602,918
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	34,054	93,725	107,715	40,223
Marketable securities	65,826	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	34,112	32,606
Inventories, net	9,355	8,870
Uniforms and other rental items in service	35,641	36,478
Income taxes, current		84
Assets held for sale		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,047	1,024
Total current assets	180,035	188,868
Property and equipment, at cost, net	70,565	72,659
Investments	936,126	956,461
Goodwill	33,551	15,197
Service contracts, net	1,874	0
Other assets, net	9,215	3,572
Total assets	1,231,366	1,236,757
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	26,560	21,876
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,234	4,682
Accrued liabilities	11,104	13,137
Income taxes, current	25
Liabilities held for sale		0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	41,923	39,695
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	390	590
Deferred income taxes	6,977	5,702
Accrued liabilities	964	904
Total long-term liabilities	8,331	7,196
Total shareholders’ equity	1,181,112	1,189,866
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,231,366	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	4	2,598
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,770)	(18,963)
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(18,766)	(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	(4,297,994)	(3,894,997)
Total assets	(8,120,447)	(7,711,039)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,011	38,021
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(724)
Income taxes, current	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,011	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	(8,158,458)	(7,749,060)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (8,120,447)	$ (7,711,039)