Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Feb. 29, 2016	May. 31, 2015	Feb. 28, 2015	May. 31, 2014
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 315,116	$ 417,073	$ 358,320	$ 513,288
Marketable securities	71,703	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	550,748	496,130
Inventories, net	255,203	226,211
Uniforms and other rental items in service	539,401	534,005
Income taxes, current	0	936
Assets held for sale	0	21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	26,653	24,030
Total current assets	1,758,824	1,735,807
Property and equipment, at cost, net	964,680	871,421
Investments	118,607	329,692
Goodwill	1,284,434	1,195,612
Service contracts, net	86,380	42,434
Other assets, net	18,285	17,494
Total assets	4,231,210	4,192,460	4,266,346
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	151,833	109,607
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	84,992	88,423
Accrued liabilities	319,438	309,935
Income taxes, current	52,541	0
Liabilities held for sale	0	704
Long-term debt due within one year	250,000	0
Total current liabilities	858,804	508,669
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,050,000	1,300,000
Deferred income taxes	240,714	339,327
Accrued liabilities	131,586	112,009
Total long-term liabilities	1,422,300	1,751,336
Total shareholders’ equity	1,950,106	1,932,455
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,231,210	4,192,460
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
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	1,197,450	1,154,596
Total assets	1,518,533	1,475,679
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	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	1,983,780	1,940,926
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,518,533	1,475,679
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	129,383	74,145	78,363	73,540
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	401,779	358,560
Inventories, net	224,075	193,594
Uniforms and other rental items in service	407,745	399,017
Income taxes, current		1,191
Assets held for sale		21,341
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	6,458	5,514
Total current assets	1,169,440	1,053,362
Property and equipment, at cost, net	569,141	523,690
Investments	1,770,808	1,956,320
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	84,563	42,400
Other assets, net	48,648	12,373
Total assets	3,642,600	3,588,145
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,280,728)	(877,042)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	58,236	59,752
Accrued liabilities	70,322	65,022
Income taxes, current	52,732
Liabilities held for sale		704
Long-term debt due within one year	250,317	293
Total current liabilities	(849,121)	(751,271)
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	1,058,135	1,308,452
Deferred income taxes	(413)	(304)
Accrued liabilities	22,438	0
Total long-term liabilities	1,080,160	1,308,148
Total shareholders’ equity	3,411,561	3,031,268
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,642,600	3,588,145
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	153,138	249,203	221,365	399,525
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	116,666	104,964
Inventories, net	22,733	21,149
Uniforms and other rental items in service	114,310	117,473
Income taxes, current		(339)
Assets held for sale		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	19,235	17,492
Total current assets	426,082	509,942
Property and equipment, at cost, net	323,843	275,072
Investments	894,922	895,393
Goodwill	1,251,426	1,180,527
Service contracts, net	17	34
Other assets, net	3,202,780	2,741,950
Total assets	6,099,070	5,602,918
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	1,828,860	1,391,999
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	22,347	23,989
Accrued liabilities	238,187	232,500
Income taxes, current	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Long-term debt due within one year	(317)	(293)
Total current liabilities	2,089,077	1,648,195
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	(8,525)	(9,766)
Deferred income taxes	234,080	333,929
Accrued liabilities	108,197	111,105
Total long-term liabilities	333,752	435,268
Total shareholders’ equity	3,676,241	3,519,455
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,099,070	5,602,918
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	32,595	93,725	58,592	40,223
Marketable securities	71,703	16,081
Accounts receivable, net	32,303	32,606
Inventories, net	10,487	8,870
Uniforms and other rental items in service	35,737	36,478
Income taxes, current		84
Assets held for sale		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	960	1,024
Total current assets	183,785	188,868
Property and equipment, at cost, net	71,696	72,659
Investments	938,396	956,461
Goodwill	33,120	15,197
Service contracts, net	1,800	0
Other assets, net	9,121	3,572
Total assets	1,237,918	1,236,757
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	30,928	21,876
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,409	4,682
Accrued liabilities	10,929	13,137
Income taxes, current	(191)
Liabilities held for sale		0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	46,075	39,695
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	390	590
Deferred income taxes	7,047	5,702
Accrued liabilities	951	904
Total long-term liabilities	8,388	7,196
Total shareholders’ equity	1,183,455	1,189,866
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,237,918	1,236,757
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	(2,092)	2,598
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,391)	(18,963)
Income taxes, current		0
Assets held for sale		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(20,483)	(16,365)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,806,602)	(3,799,565)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(4,439,714)	(3,894,997)
Total assets	(8,266,911)	(7,711,039)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,020	38,021
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	(724)
Income taxes, current	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Long-term debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,020	37,297
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt due after one year	0	724
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	724
Total shareholders’ equity	(8,304,931)	(7,749,060)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (8,266,911)	$ (7,711,039)