I bought sterling silver wire in 18g and 16g.  I coiled and saw cut approx. 1,000 rings in all different sizes.  I put them in small tupperware style containers with covers (labeled accordingly).  After about two weeks,  the rings are very dull in color.   Am I supposed to be rinsing or tumbling off the Bur-life after cutting? 

 If you don't rinse off the burr life the rings pick up all sorts of crud and get very dull.

 Either wash them off with detergent (stick them in a sieve) after you've cut them, or stick them in them in a tumbler for 15 mins or so to get them clean after you've cut them. 

 I sometimes tumble mine 3 hours after they've been cut, because I do like working with nice shiny rings!  I also find I get better closures after they've been deburred in the tumbler.

 

I like to at least rinse to clean before I work with them.  Time permitting, I prefer to tumble first to debur as well.

Another vote for tumbling and deburring. 

I definitely prefer to start out with shiny rings.  I make maille and, depending upon the weave, tumbling the finished article just doesn't cut it.

If you're serious when you say that shiny rings hurt your eyes, then you may want to get that checked out - I noticed that I have a tougher time seeing in bright sunlight than I used to and it turns out that I've got the beginnings of cataracts.  In the short term, maybe some very lightly tinted glasses may help.

Thank you for the advise.