Supplemental Guarantor Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Nov. 30, 2013	May 31, 2013	Nov. 30, 2012	May 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 309,334	$ 352,273	$ 242,487	$ 339,825
Marketable securities	4,156	5,680
Accounts receivable, net	520,523	496,049
Inventories, net	249,486	240,440
Uniforms and other rental items in service	508,669	496,752
Income taxes, current	0	9,102
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	26,614	24,530
Total current assets	1,618,782	1,624,826
Property and equipment, at cost, net	988,897	986,703
Goodwill	1,532,961	1,517,560
Service contracts, net	88,394	92,153
Other assets, net	136,364	124,390
Total assets	4,365,398	4,345,632	4,222,682
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	103,242	121,029
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	58,649	78,050
Accrued liabilities	360,627	271,821
Income taxes, current	4,238	0
Deferred tax liability	87,091	77,169
Long-term debt due within one year	714	8,187
Total current liabilities	614,561	556,256
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,615	1,300,979
Deferred income taxes	210,187	210,483
Accrued liabilities	92,063	76,422
Total long-term liabilities	1,602,865	1,587,884
Total shareholders’ equity	2,147,972	2,201,492
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,365,398	4,345,632
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
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	1,642,439	1,698,122
Total assets	1,642,439	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	2,107,686	2,163,369
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,642,439	1,698,122
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	69,393	54,511	45,036	58,737
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	373,929	355,429
Inventories, net	216,588	201,260
Uniforms and other rental items in service	374,341	363,662
Income taxes, current	0	4,172
Deferred tax asset (liability)	522	534
Prepaid expenses	6,994	7,450
Total current assets	1,041,767	987,018
Property and equipment, at cost, net	633,412	631,480
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	82,847	88,157
Other assets, net	1,627,184	1,627,505
Total assets	3,385,210	3,334,160
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(595,836)	(561,454)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	41,288	54,591
Accrued liabilities	67,916	67,490
Income taxes, current	8,987
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	984	8,436
Total current liabilities	(476,661)	(430,937)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,309,750	1,310,384
Deferred income taxes	(6)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,309,744	1,310,378
Total shareholders’ equity	2,552,127	2,454,719
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,385,210	3,334,160
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	210,433	247,070	167,453	229,287
Marketable securities	0	5,680
Accounts receivable, net	100,455	96,569
Inventories, net	20,080	25,584
Uniforms and other rental items in service	114,913	113,024
Income taxes, current	(2,349)	3,437
Deferred tax asset (liability)	(522)	(534)
Prepaid expenses	16,054	12,909
Total current assets	459,064	503,739
Property and equipment, at cost, net	249,859	259,586
Goodwill	1,454,848	1,449,445
Service contracts, net	104	166
Other assets, net	2,874,230	2,698,197
Total assets	5,038,105	4,911,133
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,099,424	1,084,986
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	12,425	17,642
Accrued liabilities	281,526	193,261
Income taxes, current	(4,749)
Deferred tax liability	78,229	68,231
Long-term debt due within one year	(270)	(249)
Total current liabilities	1,466,585	1,363,871
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(9,883)	(11,020)
Deferred income taxes	215,929	216,368
Accrued liabilities	91,022	75,571
Total long-term liabilities	297,068	280,919
Total shareholders’ equity	3,274,452	3,266,343
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	5,038,105	4,911,133
Non-Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	29,508	50,692	29,998	51,801
Marketable securities	4,156	0
Accounts receivable, net	46,139	44,051
Inventories, net	9,677	10,342
Uniforms and other rental items in service	39,148	38,917
Income taxes, current	2,349	1,493
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	3,566	4,171
Total current assets	134,543	149,666
Property and equipment, at cost, net	105,626	95,637
Goodwill	78,113	68,115
Service contracts, net	5,443	3,830
Other assets, net	794,512	768,903
Total assets	1,118,237	1,086,151
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	26,885	24,728
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,936	5,817
Accrued liabilities	11,185	11,837
Income taxes, current	0
Deferred tax liability	8,862	8,938
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	51,868	51,320
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	748	848
Deferred income taxes	(5,736)	(5,879)
Accrued liabilities	1,041	851
Total long-term liabilities	(3,947)	(4,180)
Total shareholders’ equity	1,070,316	1,039,011
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,118,237	1,086,151
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	3,141	3,254
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(19,733)	(18,851)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Total current assets	(16,592)	(15,597)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(6,802,001)	(6,668,337)
Total assets	(6,818,593)	(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	(6,856,609)	(6,721,950)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (6,818,593)	$ (6,683,934)