Recently developed methods for charging and investigating polymer electrets are described and discussed in view of their use for the characterization of the respective sample material. Surface charging with electron beams of relatively low energies may be used to achieve positive charging and to determine the secondary-electron emission yield of the specimen. Laser-induced pressure pulses permit the scanning of charge and polarization profiles as well as the measurement of ultrasonic velocity and attenuation. Poling of piezoelectric polymer electrets may be performed by several techniques including electron-beam charging which leads to polarization zones of predetermined thickness inside the samples; poling-current measurements can be utilized to estimate the ferroelectric polarization in the samples and to model the feroelectric-switching behavior of the dipoles.