Operating Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended																		0 Months Ended
	May 31, 2014		Feb. 28, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Aug. 31, 2013	May 31, 2013	Feb. 28, 2013	Nov. 30, 2012	Aug. 31, 2012	May 31, 2014 segment	May 31, 2013	May 31, 2012	May 31, 2014 Rental Uniforms and Ancillary Products [Member]	May 31, 2013 Rental Uniforms and Ancillary Products [Member]	May 31, 2012 Rental Uniforms and Ancillary Products [Member]	May 31, 2014 Uniform Direct Sales [Member]	May 31, 2013 Uniform Direct Sales [Member]	May 31, 2012 Uniform Direct Sales [Member]	May 31, 2014 First Aid, Safety and Fire Protection [Member]	May 31, 2013 First Aid, Safety and Fire Protection [Member]	May 31, 2012 First Aid, Safety and Fire Protection [Member]	May 31, 2014 Document Management [Member]	May 31, 2013 Document Management [Member]	May 31, 2012 Document Management [Member]	May 31, 2014 Corporate [Member]	May 31, 2013 Corporate [Member]	May 31, 2012 Corporate [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Cintas Document Shredding [Member] Product Concentration Risk [Member] Assets, Segment [Member] Cintas Document Management Services [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Cintas Document Shredding [Member] Product Concentration Risk [Member] Sales Revenue, Segment [Member] Cintas Document Management Services [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Cintas Document Shredding [Member] Product Concentration Risk [Member] Income Before Income Taxes, Segment [Member] Cintas Document Management Services [Member]
Disclosures related to operating segments
Number of operating segments (segment)										4
Concentration risk, percentage																												76.00%	80.00%	70.00%
Revenue	$ 1,157,479	[1]	$ 1,130,237	$ 1,143,753	$ 1,120,343	$ 1,129,086	$ 1,075,674	$ 1,060,386	$ 1,051,325	$ 4,551,812	$ 4,316,471	$ 4,102,000	$ 3,223,930	$ 3,044,587	$ 2,912,261	$ 455,485	$ 461,328	$ 433,994	$ 514,429	$ 460,592	$ 415,703	$ 357,968	$ 349,964	$ 340,042	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Gross margin	492,362	[1]	479,125	476,919	465,980	467,215	441,941	432,036	445,875	1,914,386	1,787,067	1,738,608	1,394,503	1,288,290	1,263,710	130,018	134,985	129,614	225,238	199,314	178,465	164,627	164,478	166,819	0	0	0
Selling and admin. expenses										1,302,752	1,221,856	1,198,981	887,444	835,249	834,210	83,309	81,739	80,577	176,286	156,232	143,338	155,713	148,636	140,856	0	0	0
Gain on deconsolidation of Shredding, net of impairment charges and other transaction costs										61,817			0			0			0			61,817			0
Interest expense, net										65,593	65,303	68,683	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	65,593	65,303	68,683
Income before income taxes										607,858	499,908	470,944	507,059	453,041	429,500	46,709	53,246	49,037	48,952	43,082	35,127	70,731	15,842	25,963	(65,593)	(65,303)	(68,683)
Depreciation and amortization										190,862	189,377	194,165	117,869	116,867	121,842	8,307	8,049	7,087	21,113	20,832	19,641	43,573	43,629	45,595	0	0	0
Capital expenditures										145,580	196,486	160,802	94,190	140,327	107,152	2,482	6,908	5,161	14,512	11,809	15,264	34,396	37,442	33,225	0	0	0
Total assets	$ 4,462,452					$ 4,345,632				$ 4,462,452	$ 4,345,632	$ 4,165,706	$ 2,875,014	$ 2,830,941	$ 2,770,491	$ 142,033	$ 152,551	$ 136,478	$ 422,015	$ 398,614	$ 362,128	$ 510,102	$ 605,573	$ 556,784	$ 513,288	$ 357,953	$ 339,825

[1] On April 30, 2014, Cintas completed its previously announced partnership transaction with the shareholders of Shred-it to combine Cintas’ document destruction business with Shred-it’s document destruction business. Under the agreement, Cintas and Shred-it each contributed its document destruction business to a newly formed partnership owned 42% by Cintas and 58% by the shareholders of Shred-it. The deconsolidation of the document destruction business negatively impacted fiscal 2014 fourth quarter revenue. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, the Company realized a $106.4 million gain on deconsolidation of the shredding business. In addition, as a result of the shredding transaction, the Company recorded an asset impairment charge of $16.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The Company also recorded transaction costs of $28.5 million, of which $2.2 million was recorded in the third quarter and $26.3 million was recorded in the fourth quarter. Please see Note 9 entitled Acquisitions and Deconsolidation for additional information on the transaction.