Blackcaps coach Gary Steadis is open to experimenting with a wax product for ball shining as a substitute for saliva.
Amid the virus pandemic, the International Cricket Council has recommended that saliva is no longer used to shine a ball to achieve swing bowling.
Stead believes now is the ideal time to sample other methods.
"In this period when there's no cricket, I'm keen to see different options and substances to see what works and what doesn't," Stead has told Newshub.
"But the hard thing is you're dealing with different balls and different conditions, and I think it's going to be hard to get something that suits all conditions."
The use of sweat will still be permitted and Stead believes that's a more than ample replacement for a traditional spit shine.
"They do the same job. It might be harder in NZ conditions, where you don't sweat as much as in the subcontinent, but it's up to the players to adapt."
Either way, the 48-year-old doesn't see the proposed change disadvantaging either batsmen or bowlers, with benefits on offer for both.
"If swing's a factor and it's not moving sideways, it's definitely going to make things more difficult for the bowlers, so you could say it might favour the batsman.
"But it might favour reverse swing and then you have pace bowlers come back into things a little later in the innings.
"Generally, in our conditions in New Zealand, the ball stays in reasonable condition, it just might not be quite as polished as what it has been."
Among the other recommendations made by the ICC committee is a proposal to allow non-neutral umpires and the addition of an extra captain's review.
The advent of the review system means umpire bias is now less common and Stead sees no problem with umpires having the opportunity to adjudicate matches on their own home soil.
"It's still in the jurisdiction of the players, if they want to challenge the review, so I think the idea of neutral umpires has less importance anyway, when you have the opportunity to challenge decisions you don't agree with.
"From an umpire's point of view, the opportunity for Chris Gaffney, for example, to potentially do a test match in New Zealand is something pretty special for him as well.
"I don't think bias is a factor, when you have technology to be able to challenge those decisions."
