To take prints from the darkroom to the developing room, you must place them in a tray. It is always better to wash many prints at once, rather than just a few. Offer to take every print in the holding bath to the wash. Most people won't complain about this, unless they are selfish and want to do the dirty work themselves. Get a fairly large tray (about 11"x14") and place all prints in tray. Carry to sink. Now would be a good time to turn on the rockin' washer, if it isn't already on. It takes a few minutes to fill up. (Turn knob on front panel until it starts making noise.)
2. HCA
Fill tray about halfway with the USED HCA from the 2nd bucket (the one just for prints, remember?) If there is no USED HCA, you can use new HCA. Agitate for 1 min. In this case, agitate just means to make sure each print has contact with the HCA for a good amount of time. A good way to do this is to pile up all the prints face up on one side of the 11"x14" tray and place them (one-by-one) face down on the other side. Repeat this a few times to make sure they get well-soaked. HCA is a chemical that super-cleans the prints. It removes any left over developer or fixer that remained on the prints. HCA cuts the time you must leave prints in the washer by 2.
3. The Rockin' Washer
Place prints FACE UP in the washer next to the sink which is hopefully close to full of water. (Leave prints face-up just in case they may or may not get scratched by the large holes in the bottom.) Leave prints in washer for approx. 10 minutes. *If there is no HCA at all, you must double the time that the prints are in the washer. Therefore, leave prints in for 20 minutes if no HCA is available.
4. Preparing Prints for Drying
Take prints out of washer (either one at a time, or put them all in a tray) and place them one-by-one on the squeegee table (left of large sink). Squeegee each print just enough to remove excess water from each. It is NOT necessary to squeegee each print completely dry. Just get most of it off, and the rest will evaporate during the drying process. Promise.
5. Drying Option I
After each print has been somewhat squeegeed (there must be another word for this), place carefully on drying racks without overlapping, FACE UP. If you place RC prints face DOWN on the drying racks, they will dry with a neat mesh design all over the image. (You can, of course, do this on purpose if you want a bizarre matte finish on your prints. There is no guarantee, however, that it will look even remotely attractive.)
6. Drying Option II
If you are in a particular hurry, you can take your prints over to the counter with the hair dryer (excuse me, the PRINT dryer) and blow them dry. This won't hurt your print, and is especially good if you have a critique coming up in say, 5 minutes.
7. Drying Option III
My personal favorite: place prints face-up in the toaster oven next to the hair dryer. Not only is this faster than the drying racks, but you get the added benefit of not having to make any effort (as with the hair dryer.) So far, I have not had any prints burned, but again, there are no guarantees. Make sure the temperature is not up very high if you are planning on forgetting about the prints for any duration of time.
8. Cautionary Statement
Don't leave prints ANYWHERE for any long amount of time without keeping an eye on them. If you do, you may be lucky enough to find them where you left them when next you check. If you are unlucky, (or if you have a professor with a sick sense of humor), you can find your prints in the nearest (maybe) trash receptical. It is okay to leave prints drying overnight on the racks. If you find them missing from the drying racks the next day, they have probably been safely moved to a nearby print-holding receptical, usually a box. Just look around, or ask a monitor. (If they still can't be found, immediately accuse your professor.)
