Supplemental Guarantor Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Aug. 31, 2013	May 31, 2013	Aug. 31, 2012	May 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 278,670	$ 352,273	$ 319,217	$ 339,825
Marketable securities	4,189	5,680
Accounts receivable, net	511,642	496,049
Inventories, net	245,470	240,440
Uniforms and other rental items in service	500,384	496,752
Income taxes, current	0	9,102
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	31,934	24,530
Total current assets	1,572,289	1,624,826
Property and equipment, at cost, net	991,331	986,703
Goodwill	1,531,006	1,517,560
Service contracts, net	93,119	92,153
Other assets, net	123,432	124,390
Total assets	4,311,177	4,345,632	4,157,035
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	124,952	121,029
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	43,247	78,050
Accrued liabilities	235,237	271,821
Income taxes, current	23,367	0
Deferred tax liability	80,692	77,169
Long-term debt due within one year	8,200	8,187
Total current liabilities	515,695	556,256
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,799	1,300,979
Deferred income taxes	214,221	210,483
Accrued liabilities	84,451	76,422
Total long-term liabilities	1,599,471	1,587,884
Total shareholders’ equity	2,196,011	2,201,492
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,311,177	4,345,632
Cintas Corporation [Member]
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
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	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	1,692,813	1,698,122
Total assets	1,692,813	1,698,122
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Deferred tax 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	2,158,060	2,163,369
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,692,813	1,698,122
Corp. 2 [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	64,369	54,511	69,882	58,737
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	365,024	355,429
Inventories, net	209,299	201,260
Uniforms and other rental items in service	367,936	363,662
Income taxes, current	0	4,172
Deferred tax asset (liability)	526	534
Prepaid expenses	7,559	7,450
Total current assets	1,014,713	987,018
Property and equipment, at cost, net	631,172	631,480
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	87,264	88,157
Other assets, net	1,626,975	1,627,505
Total assets	3,360,124	3,334,160
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(567,870)	(561,454)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	30,394	54,591
Accrued liabilities	51,115	67,490
Income taxes, current	1,719
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	8,470	8,436
Total current liabilities	(476,172)	(430,937)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,309,934	1,310,384
Deferred income taxes	(6)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,309,928	1,310,378
Total shareholders’ equity	2,526,368	2,454,719
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,360,124	3,334,160
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	190,896	247,070	211,194	229,287
Marketable securities	0	5,680
Accounts receivable, net	102,018	96,569
Inventories, net	22,909	25,584
Uniforms and other rental items in service	113,866	113,024
Income taxes, current	(2,166)	3,437
Deferred tax asset (liability)	(526)	(534)
Prepaid expenses	20,324	12,909
Total current assets	447,321	503,739
Property and equipment, at cost, net	254,952	259,586
Goodwill	1,454,846	1,449,445
Service contracts, net	134	166
Other assets, net	2,804,237	2,698,197
Total assets	4,961,490	4,911,133
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,095,369	1,084,986
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	8,877	17,642
Accrued liabilities	174,157	193,261
Income taxes, current	21,648
Deferred tax liability	71,872	68,231
Long-term debt due within one year	(270)	(249)
Total current liabilities	1,371,653	1,363,871
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(9,983)	(11,020)
Deferred income taxes	220,463	216,368
Accrued liabilities	83,613	75,571
Total long-term liabilities	294,093	280,919
Total shareholders’ equity	3,295,744	3,266,343
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,961,490	4,911,133
Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	23,405	50,692	38,141	51,801
Marketable securities	4,189	0
Accounts receivable, net	44,600	44,051
Inventories, net	9,720	10,342
Uniforms and other rental items in service	38,312	38,917
Income taxes, current	2,166	1,493
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	4,051	4,171
Total current assets	126,443	149,666
Property and equipment, at cost, net	105,207	95,637
Goodwill	76,160	68,115
Service contracts, net	5,721	3,830
Other assets, net	794,622	768,903
Total assets	1,108,153	1,086,151
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	24,684	24,728
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	3,976	5,817
Accrued liabilities	9,965	11,837
Income taxes, current	0
Deferred tax liability	8,820	8,938
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	47,445	51,320
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	848	848
Deferred income taxes	(6,236)	(5,879)
Accrued liabilities	838	851
Total long-term liabilities	(4,550)	(4,180)
Total shareholders’ equity	1,065,258	1,039,011
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,108,153	1,086,151
Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	3,542	3,254
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(19,730)	(18,851)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Total current assets	(16,188)	(15,597)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(6,795,215)	(6,668,337)
Total assets	(6,811,403)	(6,683,934)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,016	38,016
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(767)
Income taxes, current	0
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,016	37,249
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	767
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	767
Total shareholders’ equity	(6,849,419)	(6,721,950)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (6,811,403)	$ (6,683,934)