Supplemental Guarantor Information - Consolidating Condensed Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Aug. 31, 2017	May 31, 2017	Aug. 31, 2016	May 31, 2016
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 191,414	$ 169,266	$ 99,209	$ 139,357
Marketable securities	21,626	22,219
Accounts receivable, net	731,577	736,008
Inventories, net	283,197	278,218
Uniforms and other rental items in service	654,249	635,702
Income taxes, current	0	44,320
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	42,490	30,132
Assets held for sale	0	38,613
Total current assets	1,924,553	1,954,478
Property and equipment, net	1,340,660	1,323,501
Investments	163,631	164,788
Goodwill	2,810,504	2,782,335
Service contracts, net	581,631	586,988
Other assets, net	30,627	31,967
Total assets	6,851,606	6,844,057	4,167,145
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	189,571	177,051
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	119,252	149,635
Accrued liabilities	402,970	429,809
Income taxes, current	25,552	0
Debt due within one year	307,450	362,900
Liabilities held for sale	0	11,457
Total current liabilities	1,044,795	1,130,852
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	2,533,672	2,770,624
Deferred income taxes	521,774	469,328
Accrued liabilities	185,484	170,460
Total long-term liabilities	3,240,930	3,410,412
Total shareholders’ equity	2,565,881	2,302,793
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,851,606	6,844,057
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	(1)	(1,386)
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,714)	(18,993)
Income taxes, current		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Assets held for sale		0
Total current assets	(18,715)	(20,379)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investments	(6,404,479)	(6,402,479)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(5,249,008)	(5,000,837)
Total assets	(11,672,314)	(11,423,807)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	37,955	38,108
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	37,955	38,108
Long-term liabilities:
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	(11,710,269)	(11,461,915)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	(11,672,314)	(11,423,807)
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
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Assets held for sale		0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investments	321,083	321,083
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,779,551	1,516,463
Total assets	2,100,634	1,837,546
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	(465,247)	(465,247)
Long-term liabilities:
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	2,565,881	2,302,793
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	2,100,634	1,837,546
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	47,909	48,658	37,205	57,893
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	576,958	543,769
Inventories, net	234,683	243,677
Uniforms and other rental items in service	549,281	531,295
Income taxes, current		16,173
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	8,419	13,234
Assets held for sale		23,095
Total current assets	1,417,250	1,419,901
Property and equipment, net	854,619	851,018
Investments	3,594,123	3,605,457
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	495,409	505,698
Other assets, net	15,201	14,705
Total assets	6,376,602	6,396,779
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,426,249)	(1,596,731)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	78,664	94,505
Accrued liabilities	200,410	191,819
Income taxes, current	3,745
Debt due within one year	307,450	362,900
Liabilities held for sale		11,457
Total current liabilities	(835,980)	(936,050)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	2,533,282	2,770,234
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	28,861	28,384
Total long-term liabilities	2,562,143	2,798,618
Total shareholders’ equity	4,650,439	4,534,211
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,376,602	6,396,779
Investments, including intercompany investments	16,100	29,000
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	39,477	17,302	38,230	55,392
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	96,287	137,881
Inventories, net	30,643	21,466
Uniforms and other rental items in service	75,379	78,012
Income taxes, current		25,138
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	32,879	16,188
Assets held for sale		15,518
Total current assets	274,665	311,505
Property and equipment, net	370,259	364,724
Investments	939,833	929,657
Goodwill	2,757,258	2,742,898
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	3,459,273	3,489,653
Total assets	7,801,288	7,838,437
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,142,404	2,292,388
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	33,872	42,866
Accrued liabilities	176,720	219,303
Income taxes, current	24,661
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	2,377,657	2,554,557
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	475,622	436,613
Accrued liabilities	155,462	140,923
Total long-term liabilities	631,084	577,536
Total shareholders’ equity	4,792,547	4,706,344
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	7,801,288	7,838,437
Investments, including intercompany investments	147,500	135,800
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	104,028	103,306	$ 23,774	$ 26,072
Marketable securities	21,626	22,219
Accounts receivable, net	58,332	54,358
Inventories, net	17,872	14,461
Uniforms and other rental items in service	48,303	45,388
Income taxes, current		3,009
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,192	710
Assets held for sale		0
Total current assets	251,353	243,451
Property and equipment, net	115,782	107,759
Investments	1,713,071	1,711,070
Goodwill	53,358	39,549
Service contracts, net	86,222	81,290
Other assets, net	25,610	11,983
Total assets	2,245,396	2,195,102
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(99,292)	(91,467)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	6,716	12,264
Accrued liabilities	25,840	18,687
Income taxes, current	(2,854)
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	(69,590)	(60,516)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	390	390
Deferred income taxes	46,152	32,715
Accrued liabilities	1,161	1,153
Total long-term liabilities	47,703	34,258
Total shareholders’ equity	2,267,283	2,221,360
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ 2,245,396	$ 2,195,102