Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016	Nov. 30, 2015	Aug. 31, 2015	May 31, 2015		Feb. 28, 2015		Nov. 30, 2014		Aug. 31, 2014		May 31, 2016	May 31, 2015	May 31, 2014
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services													$ 3,777,801	$ 3,539,843	$ 3,304,635
Other													1,127,657	937,043	889,209
Equity in net income of affiliates													0	0	0
Total revenue	$ 1,271,405	$ 1,216,083	$ 1,219,080	$ 1,198,890	$ 1,142,583		$ 1,108,847		$ 1,123,379		$ 1,102,077		4,905,458	4,476,886	4,193,844
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services													2,106,793	2,007,632	1,922,477
Cost of other													668,795	547,917	521,608
Selling and administrative expenses													1,348,122	1,224,930	1,147,039
Operating income													781,748	696,407	602,720
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment													0	21,739	0
Interest income													(896)	(339)	(229)
Interest expense (income)													64,522	65,161	65,822
Income before income taxes													718,122	653,324	537,127
Income taxes													261,181	242,803	199,355
Income from continuing operations	$ 118,011	$ 117,279	$ 115,453	$ 106,198	$ 100,584	[1]	$ 100,331	[1]	$ 103,701	[1]	$ 105,905	[1],[2]	456,941	410,521	337,772
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax													236,579	20,097	36,670
Net income													693,520	430,618	374,442
Eliminations
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services													(155,259)	(137,199)	(121,932)
Other													(523,233)	(502,037)	(471,688)
Equity in net income of affiliates													(456,941)	(410,521)	(337,772)
Total revenue													(1,135,433)	(1,049,757)	(931,392)
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services													(236,103)	(215,099)	(201,100)
Cost of other													(408,046)	(395,355)	(375,971)
Selling and administrative expenses													(27,045)	(26,314)	(18,103)
Operating income													(464,239)	(412,989)	(336,218)
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment														0
Interest income													2	2	15,271
Interest expense (income)													0	0	0
Income before income taxes													(464,241)	(412,991)	(351,489)
Income taxes													(116)	(66)	(78)
Income from continuing operations													(464,125)	(412,925)	(351,411)
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax													(236,579)	(20,097)	(36,670)
Net income													(700,704)	(433,022)	(388,081)
Cintas Corporation
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services													0	0	0
Other													0	0	0
Equity in net income of affiliates													456,941	410,521	337,772
Total revenue													456,941	410,521	337,772
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services													0	0	0
Cost of other													0	0	0
Selling and administrative expenses													0	0	0
Operating income													456,941	410,521	337,772
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment														0
Interest income													0	0	0
Interest expense (income)													0	0	0
Income before income taxes													456,941	410,521	337,772
Income taxes													0	0	0
Income from continuing operations													456,941	410,521	337,772
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax													236,579	20,097	36,670
Net income													693,520	430,618	374,442
Corp. 2
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services													2,913,812	2,699,466	2,500,618
Other													1,576,078	1,379,572	1,302,715
Equity in net income of affiliates													0	0	0
Total revenue													4,489,890	4,079,038	3,803,333
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services													1,709,912	1,660,625	1,576,226
Cost of other													1,070,064	889,524	843,675
Selling and administrative expenses													1,427,424	1,276,745	1,172,858
Operating income													282,490	252,144	210,574
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment														0
Interest income													0	(12)	(43)
Interest expense (income)													65,534	66,298	66,461
Income before income taxes													216,956	185,858	144,156
Income taxes													71,323	66,498	43,327
Income from continuing operations													145,633	119,360	100,829
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax													242,416	15,501	61,434
Net income													388,049	134,861	162,263
Subsidiary Guarantors
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services													805,722	748,185	690,831
Other													8,542	2,159	4,192
Equity in net income of affiliates													0	0	0
Total revenue													814,264	750,344	695,023
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services													490,383	407,505	386,556
Cost of other													(41,762)	16,120	16,570
Selling and administrative expenses													(121,514)	(100,024)	(83,765)
Operating income													487,157	426,743	375,662
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment														21,739
Interest income													(666)	(250)	(178)
Interest expense (income)													(1,027)	(1,134)	(635)
Income before income taxes													488,850	449,866	376,475
Income taxes													180,100	168,706	148,332
Income from continuing operations													308,750	281,160	228,143
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax													0	0	(23,134)
Net income													308,750	281,160	205,009
Non- Guarantors
Revenue:
Uniform rental and facility services													213,526	229,391	235,118
Other													66,270	57,349	53,990
Equity in net income of affiliates													0	0	0
Total revenue													279,796	286,740	289,108
Costs and expenses (income):
Cost of uniform rental and facility services													142,601	154,601	160,795
Cost of other													48,539	37,628	37,334
Selling and administrative expenses													69,257	74,523	76,049
Operating income													19,399	19,988	14,930
Gain on sale of stock of an equity method investment														0
Interest income													(232)	(79)	(15,279)
Interest expense (income)													15	(3)	(4)
Income before income taxes													19,616	20,070	30,213
Income taxes													9,874	7,665	7,774
Income from continuing operations													9,742	12,405	22,439
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax													(5,837)	4,596	(1,630)
Net income													$ 3,905	$ 17,001	$ 20,809

[1] The figures for fiscal 2015 reflect the change in classification of Shred-it to discontinued operations within the Consolidated Statements of Income. See Note 16 entitled Discontinued Operations for additional information.

[2] During the fiscal 2015 first quarter, Cintas recognized a gain on the sale of stock in an equity method investment in the net amount of $13.6 million.