Can't mend my tools apart from my sword.

Hi. The latest Minecraft's updates have been awesome and the technical improvementes have been great, however I've always been a survival player and I've always loved repairing my stuff (swords, axes, even small things like my lighter) when I go to kill hundreds of zombie pigmen but now it's impossible because the orbs of experience don't fall to the floor but instead they go directly to my sword. Consequently, I can't repair none of my stuff through this method. How can this be fixed?