At my Prep school ( UK home counties, 1954-60 ) minor offenses in the dormitory [ usually ragging or persistently being caught talking after lights-out ] which did not merit more serious sanctions would often be rewarded with a mass slippering of the entire dormitory by the Headmaster.
However, he obviously did not consider that the usual boy’s slipper, which I think must have had a relatively soft sole, was up to the job.
For daily indoor wear, we had what I think were called house shoes which were black leather with elastic side pieces [ rather like cut down johdpur boots I suppose ] which had a much harder leather sole, and this was always the chosen instrument, and as intended it really hurt !