Supplemental Guarantor Information (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Feb. 28, 2014	May 31, 2013	Feb. 28, 2013	May 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 348,859	$ 352,273	$ 217,470	$ 339,825
Marketable securities	4,840	5,680
Accounts receivable, net	529,668	496,049
Inventories, net	256,132	240,440
Uniforms and other rental items in service	498,649	496,752
Income taxes, current	0	9,102
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	26,761	24,530
Total current assets	1,664,909	1,624,826
Property and equipment, at cost, net	981,197	986,703
Goodwill	1,532,568	1,517,560
Service contracts, net	83,972	92,153
Other assets, net	137,795	124,390
Total assets	4,400,441	4,345,632	4,226,099
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	117,336	121,029
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	80,109	78,050
Accrued liabilities	259,310	271,821
Income taxes, current	9,018	0
Deferred tax liability	86,396	77,169
Long-term debt due within one year	633	8,187
Total current liabilities	552,802	556,256
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,523	1,300,979
Deferred income taxes	209,915	210,483
Accrued liabilities	93,168	76,422
Total long-term liabilities	1,603,606	1,587,884
Total shareholders’ equity	2,244,033	2,201,492
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,400,441	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
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	1,743,234	1,698,122
Total assets	1,743,234	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	2,208,481	2,163,369
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,743,234	1,698,122
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	72,142	54,511	46,596	58,737
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	384,695	355,429
Inventories, net	224,554	201,260
Uniforms and other rental items in service	367,458	363,662
Income taxes, current		4,172
Deferred tax asset (liability)	500	534
Prepaid expenses	7,003	7,450
Total current assets	1,056,352	987,018
Property and equipment, at cost, net	631,215	631,480
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	78,810	88,157
Other assets, net	1,626,252	1,627,505
Total assets	3,392,629	3,334,160
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(611,486)	(561,454)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	57,929	54,591
Accrued liabilities	45,423	67,490
Income taxes, current	14,249
Deferred tax liability	0	0
Long-term debt due within one year	903	8,436
Total current liabilities	(492,982)	(430,937)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,309,658	1,310,384
Deferred income taxes	(6)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,309,652	1,310,378
Total shareholders’ equity	2,575,959	2,454,719
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,392,629	3,334,160
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	238,629	247,070	139,548	229,287
Marketable securities	0	5,680
Accounts receivable, net	101,647	96,569
Inventories, net	19,199	25,584
Uniforms and other rental items in service	111,778	113,024
Income taxes, current		3,437
Deferred tax asset (liability)	(500)	(534)
Prepaid expenses	16,873	12,909
Total current assets	487,626	503,739
Property and equipment, at cost, net	246,329	259,586
Goodwill	1,454,818	1,449,445
Service contracts, net	74	166
Other assets, net	2,876,904	2,698,197
Total assets	5,065,751	4,911,133
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,127,152	1,084,986
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	17,066	17,642
Accrued liabilities	203,210	193,261
Income taxes, current	(6,067)
Deferred tax liability	77,812	68,231
Long-term debt due within one year	(270)	(249)
Total current liabilities	1,418,903	1,363,871
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(9,883)	(11,020)
Deferred income taxes	215,622	216,368
Accrued liabilities	92,239	75,571
Total long-term liabilities	297,978	280,919
Total shareholders’ equity	3,348,870	3,266,343
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	5,065,751	4,911,133
Non-Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	38,088	50,692	31,326	51,801
Marketable securities	4,840	0
Accounts receivable, net	43,326	44,051
Inventories, net	9,396	10,342
Uniforms and other rental items in service	37,404	38,917
Income taxes, current		1,493
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	2,885	4,171
Total current assets	135,939	149,666
Property and equipment, at cost, net	103,653	95,637
Goodwill	77,750	68,115
Service contracts, net	5,088	3,830
Other assets, net	813,865	768,903
Total assets	1,136,295	1,086,151
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	28,902	24,728
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	5,114	5,817
Accrued liabilities	10,677	11,837
Income taxes, current	836
Deferred tax liability	8,584	8,938
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	54,113	51,320
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	748	848
Deferred income taxes	(5,701)	(5,879)
Accrued liabilities	929	851
Total long-term liabilities	(4,024)	(4,180)
Total shareholders’ equity	1,086,206	1,039,011
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,136,295	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	2,983	3,254
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(17,991)	(18,851)
Income taxes, current		0
Deferred tax asset (liability)	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Total current assets	(15,008)	(15,597)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(6,922,460)	(6,668,337)
Total assets	(6,937,468)	(6,683,934)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,015	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	38,015	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	(6,975,483)	(6,721,950)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (6,937,468)	$ (6,683,934)