Supplemental Guarantor Information - Consolidating Condensed Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Feb. 28, 2018	May 31, 2017	Feb. 28, 2017	May 31, 2016
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 152,563	$ 169,266	$ 147,244	$ 139,357
Marketable securities	33,693	22,219
Accounts receivable, net	779,220	736,008
Inventories, net	274,819	278,218
Uniforms and other rental items in service	682,438	635,702
Income taxes, current	21,651	44,320
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	35,192	30,132
Assets held for sale	0	38,613
Total current assets	1,979,576	1,954,478
Property and equipment, net	1,367,580	1,323,501
Investments	178,527	164,788
Goodwill	2,819,867	2,782,335
Service contracts, net	557,477	586,988
Other assets, net	25,566	31,967
Total assets	6,928,593	6,844,057	4,271,164
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	172,181	177,051
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	145,066	149,635
Accrued liabilities	412,826	429,809
Debt due within one year	187,500	362,900
Liabilities held for sale	0	11,457
Total current liabilities	917,573	1,130,852
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	2,534,760	2,770,624
Deferred income taxes	376,665	469,328
Accrued liabilities	205,598	170,460
Total long-term liabilities	3,117,023	3,410,412
Total shareholders’ equity	2,893,997	2,302,793
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,928,593	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	0	(1,386)
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(19,102)	(18,993)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Assets held for sale		0
Total current assets	(19,102)	(20,379)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investments	(6,405,479)	(6,402,479)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(5,736,114)	(5,000,837)
Total assets	(12,160,807)	(11,423,807)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	37,949	38,108
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	37,949	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	(12,198,756)	(11,461,915)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	(12,160,807)	(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	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	2,107,667	1,516,463
Total assets	2,428,750	1,837,546
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	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	2,893,997	2,302,793
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	2,428,750	1,837,546
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	45,105	48,658	42,774	57,893
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	601,742	543,769
Inventories, net	224,418	243,677
Uniforms and other rental items in service	566,950	531,295
Income taxes, current	(9,604)	16,173
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	11,877	13,234
Assets held for sale		23,095
Total current assets	1,440,488	1,419,901
Property and equipment, net	883,749	851,018
Investments	3,599,114	3,605,457
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	477,353	505,698
Other assets, net	515	14,705
Total assets	6,401,219	6,396,779
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,610,462)	(1,596,731)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	82,519	94,505
Accrued liabilities	124,021	191,819
Debt due within one year	187,500	362,900
Liabilities held for sale		11,457
Total current liabilities	(1,216,422)	(936,050)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	2,534,370	2,770,234
Deferred income taxes	222,968	0
Accrued liabilities	40,006	28,384
Total long-term liabilities	2,797,344	2,798,618
Total shareholders’ equity	4,820,297	4,534,211
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,401,219	6,396,779
Investments, including intercompany investments	21,100	29,000
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	15,109	17,302	9,223	55,392
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	117,281	137,881
Inventories, net	36,861	21,466
Uniforms and other rental items in service	80,852	78,012
Income taxes, current	26,083	25,138
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	22,147	16,188
Assets held for sale		15,518
Total current assets	298,333	311,505
Property and equipment, net	370,764	364,724
Investments	949,739	929,657
Goodwill	2,778,361	2,742,898
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	3,637,566	3,489,653
Total assets	8,034,763	7,838,437
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,334,145	2,292,388
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	56,234	42,866
Accrued liabilities	260,301	219,303
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	2,650,680	2,554,557
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	107,306	436,613
Accrued liabilities	164,312	140,923
Total long-term liabilities	271,618	577,536
Total shareholders’ equity	5,112,465	4,706,344
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	8,034,763	7,838,437
Investments, including intercompany investments	157,500	135,800
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	92,349	103,306	$ 95,247	$ 26,072
Marketable securities	33,693	22,219
Accounts receivable, net	60,197	54,358
Inventories, net	13,540	14,461
Uniforms and other rental items in service	53,738	45,388
Income taxes, current	5,172	3,009
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,168	710
Assets held for sale		0
Total current assets	259,857	243,451
Property and equipment, net	113,067	107,759
Investments	1,714,070	1,711,070
Goodwill	41,618	39,549
Service contracts, net	80,124	81,290
Other assets, net	15,932	11,983
Total assets	2,224,668	2,195,102
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(124,204)	(91,467)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	6,313	12,264
Accrued liabilities	28,504	18,687
Debt due within one year	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Total current liabilities	(89,387)	(60,516)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	390	390
Deferred income taxes	46,391	32,715
Accrued liabilities	1,280	1,153
Total long-term liabilities	48,061	34,258
Total shareholders’ equity	2,265,994	2,221,360
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ 2,224,668	$ 2,195,102