Supplemental Guarantor Information (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Feb. 28, 2013	May 31, 2012	Feb. 29, 2012	May 31, 2011
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 217,470	$ 339,825	$ 217,983	$ 438,106
Marketable securities	28,216	0
Accounts receivable, net	495,124	450,861
Inventories, net	246,957	251,205
Uniforms and other rental items in service	481,576	452,785
Income taxes, current	15,331	22,188
Prepaid expenses and other	24,778	24,704
Total current assets	1,509,452	1,541,568
Property and equipment, at cost, net	976,844	944,305
Goodwill	1,519,987	1,485,375
Service contracts, net	93,573	76,822
Other assets, net	121,443	112,836
Total assets	4,221,299	4,160,906	4,253,167
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	109,064	94,840
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	90,533	91,214
Accrued liabilities	238,462	256,642
Deferred tax (asset) liability	62,019	2,559
Long-term debt due within one year	674	225,636
Total current liabilities	500,752	670,891
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,308,656	1,059,166
Deferred income taxes	209,455	204,581
Accrued liabilities	72,190	87,133
Total long-term liabilities	1,590,301	1,350,880
Total shareholders’ equity	2,130,246	2,139,135
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,221,299	4,160,906
Cintas Corporation [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	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	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,626,551	1,637,225
Total assets	1,626,551	1,637,225
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	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	2,091,798	2,102,472
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,626,551	1,637,225
Corp. 2 [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	46,596	58,737	50,717	54,957
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	344,563	327,442
Inventories, net	207,720	210,283
Uniforms and other rental items in service	351,693	337,298
Income taxes, current	(10,466)	5,296
Prepaid expenses and other	7,334	7,905
Total current assets	947,440	946,961
Property and equipment, at cost, net	623,384	600,565
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	89,175	71,337
Other assets, net	1,628,389	1,628,516
Total assets	3,288,388	3,247,379
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(569,422)	(475,624)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	64,253	63,797
Accrued liabilities	45,861	67,651
Deferred tax (asset) liability	(538)	(538)
Long-term debt due within one year	923	225,866
Total current liabilities	(458,923)	(118,848)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,318,061	1,068,820
Deferred income taxes	(6)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,318,055	1,068,814
Total shareholders’ equity	2,429,256	2,297,413
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,288,388	3,247,379
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	139,548	229,287	130,113	313,283
Marketable securities	5,811
Accounts receivable, net	107,460	81,243
Inventories, net	24,814	20,258
Uniforms and other rental items in service	110,310	101,435
Income taxes, current	17,757	3,642
Prepaid expenses and other	14,539	12,770
Total current assets	420,239	448,635
Property and equipment, at cost, net	260,463	259,744
Goodwill	1,451,520	1,419,535
Service contracts, net	197	326
Other assets, net	2,665,764	2,467,198
Total assets	4,798,183	4,595,438
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,082,127	978,932
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	20,212	21,619
Accrued liabilities	180,466	176,220
Deferred tax (asset) liability	58,997	(87)
Long-term debt due within one year	(249)	(230)
Total current liabilities	1,341,553	1,176,454
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(10,253)	(11,288)
Deferred income taxes	203,389	199,404
Accrued liabilities	71,334	86,406
Total long-term liabilities	264,470	274,522
Total shareholders’ equity	3,192,160	3,144,462
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,798,183	4,595,438
Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	31,326	51,801	37,153	69,866
Marketable securities	22,405
Accounts receivable, net	43,101	42,176
Inventories, net	11,123	10,781
Uniforms and other rental items in service	37,568	35,051
Income taxes, current	8,040	13,250
Prepaid expenses and other	2,905	4,029
Total current assets	156,468	157,088
Property and equipment, at cost, net	92,997	83,996
Goodwill	68,467	65,840
Service contracts, net	4,201	5,159
Other assets, net	764,474	759,439
Total assets	1,086,607	1,071,522
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	23,587	18,760
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	6,068	5,798
Accrued liabilities	12,135	13,557
Deferred tax (asset) liability	3,560	3,184
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	45,350	41,299
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	848	848
Deferred income taxes	6,072	5,183
Accrued liabilities	856	727
Total long-term liabilities	7,776	6,758
Total shareholders’ equity	1,033,481	1,023,465
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,086,607	1,071,522
Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	3,300	9,883
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(17,995)	(20,999)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0	0
Total current assets	(14,695)	(11,116)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(6,563,735)	(6,379,542)
Total assets	(6,578,430)	(6,390,658)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,019	38,019
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(786)
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,019	37,233
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	786
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	786
Total shareholders’ equity	(6,616,449)	(6,428,677)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (6,578,430)	$ (6,390,658)