Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	May. 31, 2015	May. 31, 2014	May. 31, 2013	May. 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 417,073	$ 513,288	$ 352,273	$ 339,825
Marketable securities	16,081	0
Accounts receivable, net	496,130	508,427
Inventories, net	226,211	251,239
Uniforms and other rental items in service	534,005	506,537
Income taxes, current	936	0
Assets held for sale	21,341	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	24,030	26,190
Total current assets	1,735,807	1,805,681
Property and equipment, at cost, net	871,421	855,702
Investments	329,692	458,357
Goodwill	1,195,612	1,267,411	1,517,560
Service contracts, net	42,434	55,675
Other assets, net	17,494	19,626
Total assets	4,192,460	4,462,452	4,345,632
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	109,607	150,070
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	88,423	85,026
Accrued liabilities	309,935	299,727
Income taxes, current	0	5,960
Deferred tax (asset) liability	112,389	88,845
Liabilities held for sale	704	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	503
Total current liabilities	621,058	630,131
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,300,000	1,300,477
Deferred income taxes	226,938	246,044
Accrued liabilities	112,009	92,942
Total long-term liabilities	1,638,947	1,639,463
Total shareholders' equity	1,932,455	2,192,858	2,201,492	2,139,135
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,192,460	4,462,452
Cintas Corporation
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
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	321,083	321,083
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,154,596	1,378,100
Total assets	1,475,679	1,699,183
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 (asset) liability	0	0
Liabilities held for sale	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	1,940,926	2,164,430
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,475,679	1,699,183
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	74,145	73,540	54,511	58,737
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	358,560	366,629
Inventories, net	193,594	215,974
Uniforms and other rental items in service	399,017	374,666
Income taxes, current	1,191	1,549
Assets held for sale	21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	5,514	7,058
Total current assets	1,053,362	1,039,416
Property and equipment, at cost, net	523,690	533,665
Investments	1,956,320	2,081,094
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	42,400	51,248
Other assets, net	12,373	8,900
Total assets	3,588,145	3,714,323
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(877,042)	(545,526)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	59,752	56,581
Accrued liabilities	65,022	79,614
Income taxes, current		0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	(299)	(510)
Liabilities held for sale	704
Long-term debt due within one year	293	773
Total current liabilities	(751,570)	(409,068)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,308,452	1,309,611
Deferred income taxes	(5)	(6)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,308,447	1,309,605
Total shareholders' equity	3,031,268	2,813,786
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,588,145	3,714,323
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	249,203	399,525	247,070	229,287
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	104,964	97,869
Inventories, net	21,149	20,745
Uniforms and other rental items in service	117,473	112,467
Income taxes, current	(339)	(1,549)
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	17,492	14,752
Total current assets	509,942	643,809
Property and equipment, at cost, net	275,072	225,677
Investments	895,393	893,647
Goodwill	1,180,527	1,211,716
Service contracts, net	34	53
Other assets, net	2,741,950	2,189,527
Total assets	5,602,918	5,164,429
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,391,999	1,092,545
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	23,989	22,590
Accrued liabilities	232,500	208,983
Income taxes, current		4,915
Deferred tax (asset) liability	104,663	80,575
Liabilities held for sale	0
Long-term debt due within one year	(293)	(270)
Total current liabilities	1,752,858	1,409,338
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(9,766)	(10,380)
Deferred income taxes	229,266	251,924
Accrued liabilities	111,105	92,069
Total long-term liabilities	330,605	333,613
Total shareholders' equity	3,519,455	3,421,478
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	5,602,918	5,164,429
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	93,725	40,223	50,692	51,801
Marketable securities	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	32,606	43,929
Inventories, net	8,870	9,650
Uniforms and other rental items in service	36,478	38,240
Income taxes, current	84	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,024	4,380
Total current assets	188,868	136,422
Property and equipment, at cost, net	72,659	96,360
Investments	956,461	1,015,343
Goodwill	15,197	55,807
Service contracts, net	0	4,374
Other assets, net	3,572	9,044
Total assets	1,236,757	1,317,350
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	21,876	30,281
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,682	5,855
Accrued liabilities	13,137	11,876
Income taxes, current		1,045
Deferred tax (asset) liability	8,025	8,780
Liabilities held for sale	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	47,720	57,837
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	590	500
Deferred income taxes	(2,323)	(5,874)
Accrued liabilities	904	873
Total long-term liabilities	(829)	(4,501)
Total shareholders' equity	1,189,866	1,264,014
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,236,757	1,317,350
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	2,598	4,870
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,963)	(18,836)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(16,365)	(13,966)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,799,565)	(3,852,810)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(3,894,997)	(3,565,945)
Total assets	(7,711,039)	(7,432,833)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,021	38,017
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	(724)	(746)
Income taxes, current		0
Deferred tax (asset) liability	0	0
Liabilities held for sale	0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	37,297	37,271
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	724	746
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	724	746
Total shareholders' equity	(7,749,060)	(7,470,850)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (7,711,039)	$ (7,432,833)